The approval is a victory for Mayor Kasim Reed, who has been trying to cut a deal since first announcing he was putting Underground up for sale in late 2014. As negotiations dragged on, Reed, who also is chairman of the Invest Atlanta board, threatened to pull out of the deal in January.

That same month, the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association sent the city a demand letter questioning the legality of aspects of the project, a possible prelude to a lawsuit. The group's members and other downtown residents questioned plans to sell public streets intersecting the site to the developer, the need for 2,000 parking spaces that are part of the development strategy and the size of the proposed grocery store.