By Tony Wilbert
ATOP THE W ATLANTA DOWNTOWN (March 10, 2009) - Hal Barry has landed. And he's done so in style, with fetching flight attendant and YouTube sensation Katherine "Deltalina" Lee at his side in a bright red helicopter.
Barry threw a party Tuesday evening to celebrate the inaugural landing on the helipad atop the W Atlanta Downtown Hotel & Residences at Allen Plaza, an emerging mixed-use development that eventually will cover nearly 10 city blocks. The party started with Barry introducing Deltalina to the crowd of journalists, Barry executives and one couple interested in purchasing a condo in the 28-story tower.
"We've never done that before," Barry said to the pilot after he landed the 'copter. Soon after, Barry introduced his wife Linda and Deltalina to the crowd. Barry clearly was in a jovial mood, despite the slow sales at the W, where only nine of the 74 condos have sold to date. Barry said he's confident sales will pick up when the economy rebounds. "We're only just beginning to transform downtown," he said.
While Barry's timing hasn't been perfect, his vision has been pretty clear. He foresaw the northern edge of downtown as a place for Fortune 500 headquarters (Southern Co.), fancy French restaurants (FAB Atlanta) and hip hotels (the W). He also can picture hundreds and hundreds of apartments and high-end condos, and he persuaded Post Properties to buy into his vision. (Post has delayed plans to start anything at Allen Plaza due to the economy.)
Barry chose to name Allen Plaza to honor late Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen who helped ensure that Atlanta did not devolve into a hotbed of racial tensions during the early days of the Civil Rights movement. During the party, Barry recounted how the name came to him in his sleep. His wife confirmed the story. "It was 4:45, and I was in bed when it hit me. 'Allen Plaza!' " Hal Barry said. "I woke up Linda and said, 'I got it. It's Allen Plaza.' "
Less than four hours later Barry was on the phone with Inman Allen, striking a deal to acquire franchising rights to the name. The annual fee Barry pays the Allen family goes directly to the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech and a national charity.
Barry also hinted that he plans to erect an electronic billboard similar to the one at Allen Plaza "along another expressway." No, not Ga. 400, he said, so it's probably on I-75 in Cobb County.
The event was blanketed by journalsists from Bloomberg, CNN, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Public Television, Atlanta Business Chronicle, GlobalAtlanta and other outlets. Barry project manager Steve Tedder credited Jill Lerner of Jill Lerner Communications with the idea of bringing Deltalina to attract a big crowd. One high-ranking Barry executive said it did the trick. "She's even prettier in person," the exec said of Lee.
When the official circumstance on the helipad ended, Barry led the entourage to his personal condo on the 26th floor, where beer, liquor and food from BLT Steak Atlanta were served.
Hot. Hot. Hot.
Posted by: Walter Woods | March 11, 2009 at 05:05 PM