Council clears sale of Pelham Street strip marked ‘not open’

Atlanta City Council voted 15–0 on Oct. 19 to authorize selling and abandoning a 0.181-acre portion of Pelham Street NW to Westside Acquisitions I LLC. The strip lies between Oliver and Lindsay streets.⁠[1]

The city’s legal description calls the 30-foot-wide right-of-way “NOT OPEN,” citing a survey last revised May 9, 2025. The ordinance says the transportation commissioner found it no longer useful or necessary as a public street and that all abutting property owners consented to the conveyance.⁠[2]

The full-Council adoption of ordinance 26-O-1523 goes beyond the Transportation Committee’s 4–0 recommendation we reported earlier. But authorization is not a completed sale: the records reviewed do not establish payment or a recorded deed.⁠[1][2]

The buyer must pay fair market value, but the ordinance does not state a purchase price or specify a future development. The $2,500 it says the applicant already paid covers advertising and appraisal—not the land. Sale revenue is designated for Atlanta’s Safety & Mobility Capital Finance Fund.⁠[1][2]

Existing utility easements would remain, preserving the city’s access to operate, maintain or replace utility facilities. The conveyance documents require legal approval, the mayor’s signature and the municipal clerk’s attestation before binding Atlanta.⁠[2]

There is also a deadline: if a quitclaim deed is not recorded in Fulton County’s real-property records within one year of the ordinance’s effective date, the abandonment becomes null and void.⁠[2]