After the forced closure of Sandy Springs’ three strip clubs, one is being considered for a new assisted living facility and another appears to have a new tenant.
A developer is considering building an assisted living facility at the former location of the Coronet Club/Doll House on Roswell Road.
The space that held Mardi Gras, which is tucked behind a shopping center anchored by Publix on Powers Ferry Road, is listed as having a new tenant on the owner’s website.
The owners of Flashers, located on Roswell Road, are in the midst of a lawsuit against the city for a 2016 raid and redevelopment plans have not been announced.
All three strip clubs closed in September 2018 after losing a court battle that allowed the city to shut them down.
Mardi Gras
The owner of the shopping center Mardi Gras was located in has listed a new tenant, “Mickey G’s” as occupying the strip club’s former building.
Mardi Gras was located in Powers Ferry Village, a shopping center at 6300 Powers Ferry Road owned by Regency Centers, in a separate building to the side.
It is unclear what kind of business Mickey G’s would be, and the leasing agent for the center, Leslie Mintz, said in an email that there is “nothing to confirm at this time.”
Nothing appeared to have changed on the exterior of the building as of early January.
Coronet Club/Doll House
A developer shared his plan to build an assisted living facility on Coronet Club/Doll House’s lot at 5275 Roswell Road during a Dec. 20 community meeting. Nearby residents shared concerns about the use and potential increased traffic the development could bring.
Stephen Pistorius, the developer, said at the required preliminary meeting held at the Church of Scientology that he is under contract for the 2-acre front lot, which was the location of the strip club, and was in discussions with a different landowner to buy the larger 4-acre lot behind it.
If he is able to use the back lot, the assisted living facility could be 150 units, he said. If the back lot is used, Pistorius hopes to bring a restaurant to the ground floor and a medical building to the front lot. Without the back lot, a medical building would not be built and there would be around 100 units, he said.
But Pistorius said the development use could still change.
To build a multiunit residence, the developer needs a zoning change to a character area that allows that use. The change wouldn’t be major since an adult business was already a commercial use, Pistorius said.
The property’s character area was changed from commercial to “Neighborhood Village,” which allows for office uses, during the city’s development code update.
“The use was commercial,” he said. “I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite use, but it was commercial.”
The strip club has previously been proposed for other redevelopments that have been rejected by the city’s Planning Commission or not moved forward.
Some residents at the meeting worried a large residential building could bring more traffic than an office building. Pistorius disagrees and said he would do a traffic study.
Pistorius said he is willing to adjust the proposal to accommodate residents’ concerns. But some of them won’t be able to be completely resolved, including traffic.
“You’re basically arguing for it to be nothing,” Pistorius responded to one resident’s concerns that new developments could bring more congestion.
But one resident thought an assisted living facility could be especially bad for traffic.
“You’re going to have medical staff, lunch staff, dinner staff, visitors and residents,” the resident said.
Some residents threw out other ideas, like building a “boutique hotel” or having the city use the land as a park. Another joked another strip club should come, saying it was a good use because it brought traffic limited to evening hours when congestion is lower.
“Could we get another strip club?” the resident said. “At least they were good neighbors and didn’t take left turns during the day.”
Pistorius said he is planning to talk to the city about going through the zoning process in a way that ties the development plan to the zoning use so that residents know what they will be getting if the character area is changed.
“I know it’s a sensitive subject for anyone who lives here, but somebody’s going to redevelop it,” he said.
The developer is required to host a second community meeting, which has not been set yet, before appearing at the Planning Commission in March. For more information, visit sandyspringsga.gov.