In the middle of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic put a question mark on the future of both downtown Atlanta and real-estate development, Shaneel Lalani got a phone call. WRS, the South Carolina–based developer that bought Underground Atlanta in 2017, wanted a loan. Lalani, the founder and CEO of the development firm Billionaires Funding Group, had been looking for a supersized project closer to his home in Decatur, but the call gave him a better idea: He bought the subterranean retail, restaurant, and nightlife district from WRS.
Now, the 31-year-old businessman who’s a newcomer to downtown’s development scene—and to projects the size and scale of Underground—will lead the overhaul of the 400,000-square-foot property located next to the region’s busiest rail station, in the city’s densest neighborhood, and near to billion-dollar redevelopment plans from both CIM Group and the German firm Newport, which owns nearly 50 historic properties on eight city blocks nearby.
Check out the full story by Atlanta Magazine, here https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/underground-atlanta-will-try-try-again/