Is the end nigh for Masquerade’s long run on North Avenue?

When a developer last year proposed a mixed-use development along the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail next to the Masquerade, there was never any doubt about the future of the historic (and protected) DuPre Excelsior Mill building that has been home to the Masquerade since 1989.
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? Whether the building would continue to house Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory — along with the thousands of music fans who fill the venues — was up in the air, however.
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?Now there’s even more uncertainty.
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? Southeast Capital, the Atlanta-based real estate firm that’s owned the mill buildings since 2006, has partnered with SWH Residential to develop a 228-unit apartment complex and 4,500-square-foot restaurant on the Masquerade’s outdoor music park. The development would also sit on two parcels the developers recently purchased from the city. The restaurant would face the Atlanta Beltline, SE Capital’s Jay Clark and SWH Managing Partner John Tirril both say. Work on the mixed-use development is scheduled to begin in October and take 20 months to build, Clark tells Creative Loafing. 
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? So what then happens to the Masquerade? Earlier this month, Coster reported in a post that’s now traveling quickly on social media that SE Capital would make the mill buildings facing North Avenue into a 24,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project. Does that mean the Masquerade would need to vacate the buildings where GWAR hath spilled fake vomit? And Method Man dove from the stage? Even a member of the team behind the development felt a touch of sadness about the prospect of change.
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? “There was some heartache at the Tirrill household,” Tirrill says, noting that he and his son have both attended concerts at the venue. “There’s been so much change in Old Fourth Ward. I’m certainly empathetic to people who are concerned or upset.” 
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? Clark, however, says the building’s — and venue’s — future are still in the works. The developers are focusing first on the new mixed-use building, which will include three levels of parking topped with five stories of apartments. The parking would serve both the mixed-use development and whatever eventually occupies the mill buildings.
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? “Whatever we do with the existing building, is not an afterthought, but it’s not a time priority,” Clark says. “We’ve got to get the new building and parking numbers to work. We’re going through that final process of meeting with the general contractor and fine-tuning the plan.”
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? During that period, the partners will decide how to approach the mill building’s interior, which Clark says requires six to eight months of renovations, including bringing the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems up to today’s standards. The firm was already given the OK by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission to demolish some non-historic parts of the mill buildings, Clark says. But he says that the team has “spent no time on what that building needs to be when it grows up.” Decisions surrounding tenants or what exactly will happen next won’t come for several more months. 
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? We’ve emailed and left a message with the Masquerade owners seeking comment and asking whether they’re looking for new potential venues. We’ll update when we hear word. 
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