Dec. 16, 2003 - The Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority has sold the long-vacant, 80-year-old Glenn Building downtown to a developer that plans to open an upscale hotel there in early 2005. 

Legacy Property Group, developer of the nearby Embassy Suites Hotel near Centennial Olympic Park, bought the 10-story Glenn Building at 120 Marietta St. for $2.8 million, said Thomas Dortch, chairman of the recreation authority. 

The yet-to-be-named hotel will have 120 rooms, meeting space, and a restaurant and bar, said David Marvin, head of Legacy Property Group. 

The hotel hopes to draw conventioneers and people visiting the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola, which are set to open a few blocks down Marietta Street, Marvin said. 

The Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority bought the Glenn Building and the surrounding land in July 1997 from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said Kris Cooper of Cushman & Wakefield, which brokered the deal. 

The Atlanta Fed was next door until it relocated to Midtown in 2001. 

The Glenn Building site was slated to become parking for Philips Arena and an office building, but a preservation group controls an easement on the building's lion-studded facades, which prevented its demolition. 

The recreation authority manages the upkeep of Turner Field, Philips Arena and Fanplex, the miniature golf attraction near Turner Field. 

The authority is also looking to sell or find a private manager for Fanplex, Dortch said. 

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(c) 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. HLT,