A well placed source indicates that plans are being finalized to turn the former Houston's restaurant parcel and the adjacent former Ruby Tuesday restaurant property into a new The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Buckhead. The Ruby Tuesday property is currently occupied by Katana, a Japanese restaurant. Combined, the two properties are about 1.54 acres, according to Fulton County property records.

As ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report , Houston's closed its landmark Buckhead restaurant last month after about 40 years in business. The restaurant cited an inability to come to terms on a new lease as the reason for closing the restaurant that generated nearly $10 million in annual revenue.

A return of The Ritz-Carlton to Buckhead would not be surprising. The former The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead was deflagged this past November , just shy of 35 years in business. The replacement hotel, The Whitley, part of Marriott's "The Luxury Collection," has reportedly not performed well and is hemorrhaging staff. The Whitley is reportedly behind its 2018 budget by about $10 million. Its Easter brunch as The Ritz last year drew about 800 covers, but only about 100 this year as The Whitley.

In an effort to put "heads in beds," The Whitley is offering room nights at an unheard of $120 per night in some cases, well below any rate ever offered by its predecessor. The low average daily rate (ADR) is not only causing budgetary shortfalls but attracting cost conscious guests who are not as likely to tip the hotel's largely hourly, gratuity dependent workforce.

The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead was not old and historic nor new and modern. It was in that unfortunate place for a luxury hotel to be: stale. The construction of a new The Ritz-Carlton would allow the company to do something it could never do at its former Buckhead property - start from scratch.

The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead opened in 1983 with 550 rooms. Today, even after converting some rooms to a spa and enlarging others, the hotel still has over 500 rooms. Luxury city hotels of today simply aren't built as large as the original Ritz was.

A return of The Ritz to Buckhead would likely come in the form of a hotel no larger than 250 rooms. While The St. Regis Atlanta (151 rooms) and Mandarin Oriental Atlanta (127 rooms), both in Buckhead and each within The Ritz's "comp set" each have residences on top of the hotel, the new Ritz likely would not. The Ritz-Carlton Residences (3630 Peachtree Road) opened in 2011 and its 127 units are located less than a mile from the likely Ritz hotel site.

As far as land goes, the Mandarin property, with 42 floors, 127 hotel rooms, 45 residential units and freestanding Del Frisco's Grille restaurant, sit on about 1.57 acres according to Fulton County tax records. Given that the Ritz would likely be no more than 250 rooms with no condos and likely an underground deck parking, it's completely feasible to consider the approximately 1.54 acre Houston's/Katana site.

While a Lenox Road and East Paces Ferry Road address is not nearly as prestigious as Peachtree and Lenox Roads, it still offers great access to Lenox Square and even better access to MARTA for those rare Ritz patrons electing to take public transit. The Houston's site is also across the street from the JW Marriott, a sibling brand in the Marriott International hotel family.

ToNeTo Atlanta reached out to Tori Allen of Tori Allen PR who handles public relations on behalf of Katana for comment on the potential closure. Allen said of our question, "We don't have any information at this time, so our official comment is 'no comment.'"

When asked about the prospect of The Ritz-Carlton returning to Buckhead, a spokesperson for the brand said: "The Ritz-Carlton is always looking towards the future and for the right opportunities with the right owner partners, but cannot confirm any new developments at this time. The Ritz-Carlton remains committed to the vibrant Atlanta metro area market with The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta and The Ritz- Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee."





Fulton County property records indicate that the Houston's property is currently owned by "Regional Realty." Fulton County values the .93 acre parcel of land at $1,742,200 and the 7,000 square foot building on the property at an additional $949,500 for a combined total of $2,691,700.

Fulton County property records indicate that the Katana property is currently owned by "Kerker Jacob Et AL." Fulton County values the .61 acre parcel of land at $2,041,200 and the 5,324 square foot building at $466,100 for a combined total of $2,507,300.

While there has definitely been damage done to guest perception of The Ritz brand first as a result of its aging property, and later its deflagging, a return to Buckhead so soon could help to salvage the remaining brand equity it has left in the market.

Are you excited by the possibility of a return of The Ritz-Carlton hotel to Buckhead? Did you stop going going to The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead property after its conversion to The Whitley? What is your favorite luxury hotel brand?