Fulton County commissioners offer $56.5 million to buy Atlanta City Detention Center
Five Fulton County commissioners have made a new offer to purchase the Atlanta City Detention Center, proposing to pay the city $56.5 million as negotiations over the future of the downtown jail continue.
The offer was sent Monday to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and members of the Atlanta City Council. This comes only a week and some days after Dickens wrote his own letter withdrawing an $80 million offer to sell the detention center to Fulton County on July 30; he invited county leaders to submit a new proposal.
The letter was signed by Fulton Commission Chair Robert L. Pitts, Vice Chair Khadijah Abdur-Rahman and Commissioners Bridget Thorne, Bob Ellis and Dana Barrett.
County leaders said their $56.5 million offer is based on a 2025 broker opinion of value from commercial real estate firm CBRE Group. In their notice, they attached the evaluation in their email to CBS News Atlanta.
Commissioners also cited an estimated $75 million in renovations they say would be needed because of the facility's age and its intended use.
The offer represents a significant reduction from the city's previous $80 million proposal.
Commissioners also pushed back against additional financial conditions they said were attached to Atlanta's previous offer. In the letter, county officials claimed those conditions would have pushed the overall cost to Fulton County to $1.4 billion.
The latest proposal is another development in a yearslong dispute between Atlanta and Fulton County over the detention center and the county's need for additional jail space.
According to the commissioners' letter, Fulton County has attempted to acquire the Atlanta City Detention Center for more than 17 years. They argued transferring the facility to the county would address detention needs while saving Atlanta approximately $27 million annually in operating and maintenance costs.
The negotiations have taken on additional urgency because Fulton County's lease of the Atlanta detention center expires at the end of 2026.
"Time is of the essence," commissioners wrote. County leaders gave Dickens and the Atlanta City Council until 5 p.m. Aug. 31 to respond. The $56.5 million offer will expire at that time.
CBS News Atlanta has reached out to the mayor's office for a response to the county's latest offer. The Mayor's office acknowledged receipt of the commissioner's letter.
A spokesperson for the mayor's office said the city will respond in full in the near future.
If and when a response is received, this article will be updated accordingly.
