While a commercial real estate legend created one of the icons of Downtown Atlanta’s skyline, it took a media mogul to save it.
Ted Turner speaking at The Internet & Television Expo in 2000
Ted Turner, the Turner Broadcasting founder, former Atlanta Braves owner and creator of the 24-hour cable news cycle, died May 6 at 87. He had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
While Turner never built any commercial real estate, he was a property owner and his impact on the Atlanta skyline was undeniable, having saved an ailing Omni International complex Downtown. He bought a majority stake in the 1.2M SF property from its developer and owner, Cousins Properties, in 1985 and turned it into an international media hub for CNN, complete with the iconic sign that was out front until just a few years ago.
“His footprint here was incredibly impressive. He didn’t build CNN Center, but his occupancy at that time really created a destination place that lasted for many years,” Central Atlanta Progress President A.J. Robinson said. “The sign says it all. That iconic sign was kind of branded CNN and kind of branded Downtown.”
Cousins founder Tom Cousins completed the Omni complex in 1972 for $76M as a sort of city-within-a-city project, which included a hotel, offices, restaurants, shops and an ice skating rink. It was also home to an indoor amusement park known as The World of Sid & Marty Krofft, based on the 1970s children’s television pioneering duo’s creations, such as Land of the Lost and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
But the Omni complex was never able to buck the trend of ailing urban centers as Americans, including Atlantans, fled for the suburbs. And by 1976, the Sid & Marty Krofft amusement park closed down due to dwindling attendance, leaving Cousins and a partner with a $20M loss.
The developer staved off foreclosure for years before Turner stepped in. Five years after launching CNN and soon after its spinoff, Headline News, Turner negotiated to take a majority ownership of the complex in 1985 as headquarters for his media empire.
Turner sold the property in 1988 for $170M, nearly three times the initial purchase price, the LA Times reported at the time.
Aside from being the nexus of his cable news empire, Turner also outfitted CNN Center with his own private residence at the top.
One CNN Center, the longtime home of WarnerMedia’s CNN
After selling his cable news empire to Time Warner — and losing control of CNN when Time Warner and AOL merged in 2010, what he said was his biggest business regret — Turner bought the historic Bona Allen Building at the corner of Ted Turner Drive and Spring Street and made it the home of Turner Enterprises and Ted’s Montana Grill corporate offices. Turner also lived on the top penthouse floor of the building, with views of CNN Center.
“I live on top of my office. I had to buy the building on Luckie Street because after my disastrous merger with Time Warner, where I lost 80% of what I had, I needed some good luck,” Turner told the Buckhead Coalition in 2015, as reported by REBusiness Online. “I’m the only chain restaurant owner in the country who lives in the restaurant. That’s the way they used to do it.”
Turner installed a solar array atop the parking deck next to his building at 133 Luckie St., saving 20% of Turner Building’s annual power needs, according to Turner Enterprises.
Robinson said it wasn’t uncommon to see Turner walking around Downtown during that time.
“It’s rare that you have someone who has more than multiple businesses Downtown and also lived partially Downtown. I can’t think of anyone else who would check that box,” he said.
CNN Center now has new ownership, and the news organization has moved out of Downtown to Midtown Atlanta and New York. CP Group is aiming to transform what is now dubbed The Center back to its roots with a mixed-use concept.
In his later years, Turner became one of the largest private individual landowners in the U.S., having amassed 2 million acres of ranchland in North America. The land has been kept as a preserve for bison, hunting and fishing, and ecotourism, according to Turner Enterprises, which owns and operates the land.
Turner also made an impact on retail real estate, having launched a chain of Ted’s Montana Grill restaurants in 2002, which serves bison dishes from the cattle from his ranches. The restaurant operates 37 locations in the U.S.
And while he never owned it, Turner’s moniker graced the Atlanta Braves stadium after the 1996 Summer Olympics. The team, owned by Turner between 1976 and 1996, was used in part to fuel content for the Turner Broadcasting System empire. The Braves played at Turner Field for 20 years before moving to Cobb County.
“His career not only changed Downtown, but changed Atlanta and changed the media business and changed the world,” Robinson said.
