The Healey Building

100+ Years of History in Downtown Atlanta

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View this morning looking west from one of the Healey’s upper floors.

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Business news from the Healey...

Bank Clerks Find a Friend in Holt

Atlanta Constitution, Mar. 5, 1917

Manager Healey Building Café Prepares Special 2:30 Lunches for Them

To show their appreciation of the forethought of Mssrs. Holt and Christian, who provide good things to eat at the Healey Building café, the bank clerks of Atlanta are giving them a most liberal patronage these days

The café managers realized that bank officials and employees could not get away from their duties until about 2:30 PM and in consequence when they ran out for a little regular noonday lunch, it generally happened that whatever had been provided for the lunch hour was either cleaned up or had gotten cold. Here is where the Healey sprung a new wrinkle. It was serving a special dinner -– at prices ranging from 25 cents to 50 cents -- and they were so popular that ordinarily they were about cleaned up at 2:30. But they made special provision for the bank clerks, and so informed them. They reserve enough of their regular dinners, keeping it nice and warm for the bank tellers. Just as soon as the bank boys got on to the plan of the Healey Café managers, they began showing their appreciation by dropping it in -– and now, if you want to find most of the money-counters of the city long about 2:30 to 3 pm, this is the Healey Café. They're all they're eating the splendid dinners saved or prepared especially for them. This is just one of the special kinds of service Manager Holt has inaugurated since taking hold of this café.

The special club breakfast and club dinners -– from 6 to 10 pm – served at 25 cents at the Healey Café are growing more popular with each day, and Manager Holt is particularly pleased that so many ladies are now taking advantage of their eating place.

The Healey Café is one of the very few large restaurants in the country who closed their doors on Sunday. "We serve the folks good enough for six days," says Mr. Holt, "and when Sunday comes we want to help to have an opportunity to rest and go to church. That's why we close on Sunday. 

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A teaser for the opening of the Healey, which did indeed open in January 1914.

Healey building will be complete by January

The Atlanta Constitution; August 11, 1913

Work is actively progressing on the Healey building, and by January it will be ready for occupancy. Fronting on Walton, Forsyth and Poplar Streets, it has one of the best locations in the city, and is opposite the post office.

The building will be sixteen stories in height above ground with a basement and sub-basement. Both exterior and interior will be finished in Atlanta terra-cotta. A battery of six elevators of the Otis electric traction type will be installed.

Everything about the building will be fireproof construction. The very latest safety devices will be installed and everything done for the safety of the persons within the structure.

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Healy Building among South's most modern office buildings

The Atlanta Constitution; May 30, 1915

The Healey Building was opened in June 1914. It is one of the most modern office buildings in the South and has sixteen floors above the ground and two in the basement.

It contains 500 offices and several of the largest and best storerooms in the city. It is built of terra-cotta and granite as an exterior over a steel frame.

The building opens our street, Forsyth, Broad, Poplar and Walton. It is so constructed as to give perfect ventilation and light to every office. Throughout the building the floors are laid with tile.

Six Otis elevators of the largest and best type take care of passengers and freight.

Hot water, cold water and ice water in summer can be found on each floor.

The toilet arrangements are modern and up to date and every floor has its separate toilet. On one floor is a restroom for the ladies employed in the building.

The architect, it was stated when the building was first planned, would sacrifice floorspace rather than ventilation and light, and the result is that not a single office in the building is without outside light and ventilation.

Under good management and perfect janitor service the building has attracted the very best class of tenants.

The architecture is an ornament to the city and is always "looked up to" and praised by the visitors to Atlanta who view with wonder the city's great and wonderful skyscrapers.

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Another dose of Healey rumors, this one from a real estate roundup.

Atlanta's Strides from Day to Day: All the News of Real Estate and Building

The Atlanta Constitution; Sept. 18, 1913

The first floor-plans of the Healey Building, showing the arrangements of the offices on each floor, were mailed yesterday to prospective tenants.

They show there will be 32 offices to each floor above the second, of various sizes.

While there has been a demand for offices in the Healey Building, owing to the fact that the definite location of offices on each floor could not be exactly ascertained, a number have held back until these charts appeared.

From time to time there have been rumors that a million dollar trust company would occupy the ground floor of the building, but so far this has been denied by the renting agents. However, some announcement of the ground floor tenants will be made shortly, it is thought.

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“Healey to erect 22-story building on his property”

In the years before it was built, the Healey was the subject of numerous press articles. Rumors about “Healey’s Hole,” as it were known, swirled. What was William Healey going to build there? How tall would it be? What architecture firm would design it?  This is among the earliest pieces, so of course it includes things that turned out not to be true. Later piece would reduce the height of the building, the prospective date for construction, etc.

Healey to erect 22-story building on his property

The Atlanta Georgian; Mar. 21, 1910

Will be situated at Northeast corner North Forsyth and Walton Streets

Will be the highest structure in Atlanta

Present tenants ordered to vacate – contracting firms have submitted bids for making excavations

That W.T. Healey will erect a 22-story office building on his property at the northeast corner of North Forsyth and Walton Streets now appears to be a certainty.

The occupants of the property have been ordered to vacate and the billboard company has been notified to discontinue business May 1 at this point.

In regards to the plans for the structure, neither Mr. Healey nor his associates, the Liebermans, would make a statement. The tenants have been ordered to vacate and contracting firms have submitted bids for the excavating. The architects of the city are hustling to draw plans, and it looks as though work will be commenced within a few weeks.

The location is ideal for the purpose, being just across the street for the new Federal building and the Grant Building, just opposite the Empire Building and a short distance below the Realty Trust Building.

Property in that section is held almost as hot as Peachtree Street property and a prominent real estate man stated to a representative of The Georgian that there was at the present time many big plans for the improvement on that thoroughfare under contemplation.

The Healey building will be the highest structure in the city.

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“Healey Building prepares for its grand opening”

This article is really interesting, because it recounts the renovation of the building in the 1980s. Many of those changes are visible in building today, including the restored “tonsorium” (barber shop) in the lobby

Healey Building prepares for its grand opening

Atlanta Daily World; March 24, 1987

Healey Building Associates Ltd. will hold a cocktail reception on Tuesday, April 7 from 6 to 8 PM to celebrate the grand opening of Atlanta's newest renovated landmark, the Healey Building.

The reception will offer guests the opportunity to be among the first to explore the restorations done on this 74-year-old Gothic revival style structure. More than 200,000 square feet have have been renovated, including 145,000 square feet of office space upgraded to class A and 55,000 square feet of retail space.

The $19.2 million project is, as Pieter Kuik, one of the owners of the Healey Building, noted,"like the uncovering of a Rembrandt"

The Healey Building was originally designed in 1913 by architect Walter T. Downing. Downing was noted for his eclectic style and for inventive experimentation with plan, organization and detail.

Architects Ron Stang and Mark Newdow, of Stang and Newdow, Inc., were retained by Euram Resources, the developer of the renovation project. Stang and Newdow relied on computer-aided drafting techniques to renovate the Healey Building.

The crown of the 16-story Healey Building is its cathedral-like rotunda tlobby with its dome-shaped skylight which serves as the centerpiece of the roof garden terrace above it.

Guests strolling about the rotunda will enjoy hor d'oeuves, cocktails, and the music of the "Four in Accord" barbershop quartet harmonizing in the rotunda tonsorium. This shop has been restored to its original turn-of-the-century look. Musical entertainment will also be offered in the rotunda by pianist Author Offen.

Above the lobby around the upper rotunda clerestory, "The Mary Sue Taylor Trio," a swing combo will perform for dancing on the rooftop garden terrace. The terrace, adjoining the tri-level retail galleria, offers a full view of Atlanta skyline – a skyline which has dramatically changed since it begin growing in 1913.

At that time, the Healey Building was considered Atlanta's tallest skyscraper, and it is still acclaimed today by contemporary architects as the "best of the early skyscrapers."

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“Healey Building sells at $3.2 million”

We've been sharing a lot of news stories from the 1910s. Here's one from the 1970s, when the building left the Healey family.

Healey Building sells at $3.2 million

From the Atlanta Constitution; November 16, 1972

The 16-story Healey Building was sold Wednesday for $3.2 million – the third old, major downtown building to change hands this year.

The Healey Building was purchased by Edward E. Elson of Atlanta and Morris B. Abram, a former Atlantan who now practices law in New York City and who was president of Brandeis University in 1968-1970.

The Healey, and the entire downtown block on which it stands, was purchased from the Healey Real Estate & Improvements Co., Ltd.

The Healey – which was opened in 1914 – is across Forsyth Street from the old post office and is in the block bordered by Forsyth, Walton, Broad, and Poplar Streets.

The office building has 115,000 square feet of leasable space and occupies about one third of the block. The rest of the block is occupied by small retail establishments.

The Healey block is notable and that it has remained under single ownership by the Healey family since 1901. The new owners say they have no immediate plans for the property and will continue operating it as office and retail structures.

The Healey, which has been cited as "the Southeast's finest example of Gothic architecture," was constructed by the late financier William T. Healey. His sons, Oliver M, and William T,, are general partners of the company that is now selling the building and block.

It was also Oliver M. and William T. Healey who recently sold the 17-story William Oliver Building at Five Points to Shouky A. Shaheen of Atlanta for a price between $1-2 million.

Shaheen, a real estate developer, earlier this year paid $2 million for the 20-story Rhodes-Haverty building at 134-138 Peachtree St. Both the Rhodes- Haverty and William Oliver were built around 1930.

Shaheen has modernized both the Rhodes-Haverty and William Oliver structures. Another old downtown high-rise, the Candler Building, has also recently undergone renovation.

Real estate developers generally see these older downtown office buildings increasing in value with the continued strong growth of downtown Atlanta.

"There is only one downtown," said Elson, "and downtown Atlanta will continue to prosper.

In the sale of the Healey to Elson and Abrams, Peter E. Blum & Co was agent for the buyers and William T. Healey III, grandson of the builder, represented the sellers.

In addition to his real estate holdings, Elson operates hotel gift shop, airport concession, bookstore, and news agency businesses. His other real estate holdings include the property at Harris and Peachtree Street now occupied by the Rhodes Furniture Co. and a parking lot.

Abram, who first practiced law in Atlanta, is now a partner in the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison. He is a Rhodes scholar and served as general counsel for the Peace Corps and 1961.

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Perspective view of William T. Healey's skyscraper, work on which will begin at once. Drawing shows the Walton and Forsyth Street side.

Building will eventually cost $1,000,000, and will cover entire block

The Atlanta Constitution; August 11, 1912 

Healey's skyscraper will soon rear its lofty head majestically over Grant and Federal Buildings

Building will eventually cost $1,000,000, and will cover an entire block bounded by Forsyth, Poplar, Broad and Walton Streets.

The official announcement of the plans for William T. Healey's skyscraper office building on Forsyth Street, opposite the post office, was made yesterday by Morgan & Dillon and W.T. Downing, associate architects of the structure.

The building, which will ultimately cover the entire block bounded by Forsyth, Walton, Broad and Poplar Street, will be sixteen stories high above the sidewalk, and will extend two stories underground. The cost of the building will be in the neighborhood of $1,000,000.

Excavation complete

The excavation for the foundation of this building is practically complete, and the work of construction is expected to begin within the next few days. Contract will not be let for the entire building to any one contracting company, but the different sorts of construction will be classified and contracts will be let to different concerns for each class of construction. It is not yet known just how long it will take to complete the building.

The part of the building which will be completed first will front 200 feet on Forsyth Street, occupying the entire Forsyth Street frontage and the block between Walton and Poplar Streets. The depth on either Poplar or Walton Streets for this first section will be 114 feet.

The building covering the entire block will be erected in three installments. The first structure will extend through the block to a depth of 114 feet.

The building for the present will be 16 stories high though only half of the 114 feet of depth and two stories high throughout the remaining half. The two-story part of the structure will be built to support additional 13 stories which will constitute the second installment of the building. The entire building will be completed when the leases have expired on the stores at present occupying the Broad Street frontage of the block.

Three imposing entrances

There will be three entrances to the building, one each on Forsyth, Broad and Walton Streets, and each entrance will be two stories in height. The entrances will open through large vestibules into wide corridors extending entirely throughout the building. At the intersection of the corridors, in in the exact center of the block, there will be a beautiful rotunda 50 feet in diameter and 30 feet high from the floor to the curved ceiling. The walls and curved ceilings of the rotunda and the first-floor corridors will be faced with terra-cotta, giving an effect something like that shown in the terra-cotta ceiling of the banking rooms of the Third National Bank.

Six high-speed elevators

The first floor of the Healy Building will be occupied by stores, which will be about fourteen in number. Above the first floor will be about 500 offices. The upper floors will be reached by six high-speed passenger elevators and two freight elevators. The interior arrangement has been carefully planned and nothing has been omitted which would add to the comfort or convenience of the tenants.

The style of the architecture of the building is Gothic, and is entirely different from that of any office building in the city. In its design and treatment it will be the equal of any office building in the country.

An artistic structure

The first story of the building Will be granite, and about the granite the building will be faced with terra-cotta. The piers starting from the granite will be beautifully molded their entire height and will terminate with heavily enriched frieze and cornice. A feature which will lend greatly to the exterior attractiveness of the structure is the fact that the back of the building, or that part of the immediate structure which will face towards Peachtree Street, will have the same treatment as the other three sides so that no bare and unfinished services will be exposed to mar the artistic effect of the architecture of the building.

When construction has started when construction has started on this building there will in Atlanta more than $3,000,000 worth of skyscrapers in the course of construction at the same time. These buildings are at Hurt Building, the Ansley hotel and the Fulton Properties company's apartment.

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One of the earliest news mentions of specific plans for what would become the Healey appeared in 1910 in the Southern Israelite. The figured cited, $1 million, equates to $27 million in 2019!!!!!

Plans skyscraper of 18 stories on an uptown block

The Atlanta Georgian and News; Nov. 19, 1910

William Healey will erect million dollar structure on his property

An eighteen-story skyscraper costing approximately $1,000,000 is to be erected on the block bounded by Broad, North Forsyth, Walton and Poplar Streets by William T. Healey, an Atlanta capitalist.

Mr. Healey has been excavating at the corner of Forsyth and Walton streets for some time, awaiting the completion of the plans for the new structure and an expiration of the lease on a portion of the Broad St. property.

It was learned from a reliable source that a structure would be erected to harmonize with the improvements already made and those in contemplation in that section of the city.

The ground alone on which the building will be erected is worth $1,000,000, which is said to be a conservative estimate.

(NOTE: This article mentions 18 stories, while a later one says 22 stories, and others mention multiple towers. We'll share those proposals later on.) 

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Many, many insurance companies, investment firms and accountants had offices in the Healey over the decades. Ads from local newspapers.

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Stuart Murray sold a little bit of everything, at four location in Downtown! This ad ran in 1922.

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The Healey Building Soda Co. frequently advertised in the Southern Israelite. Both of these are from the early 1920s.

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A few of the businesses who had homes in the Healey in the first half of the 20th century. Ads from local newspapers.

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Over its decades at a commercial office building, the Healey was home to many, many real estate firms. Here, using ads from local newspapers, is a sampling.

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The Former Nicolson Family Home in Atlanta, Georgia

Formerly the Shellmont Inn and now once again a private residence, this 1892 home on Piedmont Avenue was designed by none other than Walter Downing, the architecture of the Healey Building. 

Per this wonderful 2014 article on History Atlanta (from whom I borrowed photos), it was one of the first structures built in Midtown Atlanta, which at  that time was the “frontier” as far as dwellings for Atlanta’s elite was concerned. However, by the 1890s with the Atlanta streetcar expanding northward, the area was now more accessible. By 1893, shortly after this home was completed, the Peachtree was extended to Eight Street (8th St.)

The original owners of the home were Dr. William Perrin Nicolson, who had it built as a wedding gift for his new bride, Carolyn Crane.

On Dr. Nicolson:

Dr. Nicolson would practice and teach medicine in the Atlanta for more than 30 years. He was a visiting staff member at many early Atlanta hospitals, president of the Medical Association of Georgia and the Atlanta Academy of Medicine and founded the Southern Dental College. He had offices is hospitals and one source indicated the Healey Building, but he also maintained an office in this magnificent home.

Note that his office may have been at the Healey at one time! The doctor lived with his wife and kids in the house until the end of his life in 1928. His family continued to live there.

The History Atlanta article has a wonderful description of Downing and his style:

The creativity of Downing shines in this Eclectic Colonial Revival creation; many consider it his masterpiece when it comes to the residences he designed. And he designed many homes throughout the South including the Wimbish House. Oh yeah, he also designed early commercial skyscrapers (he assisted in the design of the Healey Building) and churches such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Downtown Atlanta.

Downing loved to put a personal touch on classic revival designs along with utilizing traditional surfaces in unusual ways. All of this is evident in the Nicolson home. Here are some of the many terms thrown around by writers describing the Shellmont Inn: shells, Ionic columns, corner pilasters, shell patterns, garlands, molded caps, Adamesque swag relief, support capitals, more shells, tongue and groove vertical siding, clapboard siding, projecting bay, board and batten, egg and dart, friezes, dormers and so much more.

Windows are cleverly placed and each seems to offer a different size and style, from hexagons to ovals to archways. Everywhere you look the home offers a tiny detail cunningly placed by Downing. And it must have pleased Carolyn in her later years the neighborhood became populated. The home stayed in the Nicolson family well after her death.

The home was purchased by Debbie and Ed McCord directly from the Nicolson family in 1982. The couple completed an epic restoration:

To realize this dream the McCords performed extensive renovations from the seven roofs down to the foundation. They have stripped paint to discover the original wall decorations and reworked the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. Inspired by the many shells and their location on Piedmont, they opened in 1984 under the name the Shellmont Inn.

Read the full article and see many more fantastic photos over on Atlanta History! 

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Historic marker on the Healey marking it as a NHRP site.

Photo by @wdarling