Historic property with Outkast ties floated for redevelopment

Josh Green

Mon, 11/25/2024 – 18:15

Anyone with a soft spot for classic, early aughts music videos or Atlanta hip-hop royalty might recognize this landmark complex in Castleberry Hill.

As the name implies, the circa-1930 American Laundry Building on Walker Street once served as a location where local railroad workers would drop off and retrieve laundry in the neighborhood’s manufacturing and industrial heyday.

More importantly, André 3000 and Big Boi once worked there together.

The building—with its airy interiors and cool, postindustrial vibe—was an apt setting for the somewhat racy early morning scenes in the video for Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean,” the third and final single from 2000’s seminal album Stankonia. (How perfect a building with “laundry” in its name was used for that song’s video, which has 60 million YouTube views and counting).

Courtesy of Bull Realty Inc.

This bathtub played a starring role in the classic Outkast video. Courtesy of Bull Realty Inc.

Now, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon and Gulch redevelopment clearly underway, the nearly century-old building is trying to attract new owners—and potentially new life.

The 256 Walker St. property came to market with commercial firm Bull Realty on Friday, presenting what sellers call “incredible character” across its buildings, as well as “endless opportunities for creative uses, adaptive-reuse, or redevelopment.”

What’s the .42-acre property entail, exactly?

Courtesy of Bull Realty Inc.

The two-story American Laundry building itself spans about 10,000 square feet (the main façade, while inimitable, is neither fresh nor particularly clean, as is.) Next door is a roughly 3,000-square-foot courtyard, and what’s called an open-air building of 1,200 square feet—aka, lovely old brick walls.

Also included is what Bull Realty estimates to be 27 parking spaces on site.

Perks of the location include walkability to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and new attractions around Centennial Yards in about 10 minutes, per listings. The property, which has been used as coworking spaces, a private residence, and an events venue, also came up for grabs five years ago, when it was asking $4.5 million.

The unlisted new price, according to Bull Realty partner Michael Wess, is in the “high $2 million range.”

Find more context and a closer look in the gallery above. Proper hygiene not required.

Courtesy of Bull Realty Inc.