Fulton County continues negotiations to purchase the Atlanta City Detention Center after Commission Chair Rob Pitts said Wednesday that the parties have agreed on a price.
The City of Atlanta and Fulton County have been back and forth for months over the Downtown jail’s lease. Contingencies, appraisals, and misaligned renovation estimates have stood between the city and county from finalizing a deal.
Fulton needs the space to alleviate overcrowding at its jail on Rice Street. The Board of Commissioners voted in April to spend $1.3 billion to improve jail conditions.
This week, Dickens proposed that Fulton County pay $68 million for the detention center and kick in $200 million over a decade to develop a new hospital with Morehouse School of Medicine and Atrium Health.
“This agreement gives us an opportunity to address both an immediate detention challenge and another fundamental responsibility we share; ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare,” Dickens wrote on Sept. 1. “The savings generated by this transaction provide Fulton County with greater capacity to make that investment while still producing significant savings for County taxpayers.”
A response from Pitts agreed to $68 million, subject to clauses. In a letter immediately following the Sept. 2 commission meeting, Pitts agreed to the $68 million price tag and said he would execute an agreement if the city pays “per detainee costs associated with housing, food, custody staffing, and medical care” and drops the $200 million request for the hospital.
“These issues are not related to the proposed real estate transaction and the Board of Commissioners will not accept these conditions as to the purchase of a detention facility,” Pitts wrote.
Pitts said the current deal expires on Sept. 10. “This is a good deal, and we intend to close it,” he wrote. “It is our desire to reach an agreement and close the transaction before Dec. 4, 2026.”
