Request to research a nightclub on state property
A landlord and a downtown nightclub are battling in courtroom over a constructing that sits on state property. The FOX 5 I-Staff has realized that, earlier than his loss of life from most cancers final week, Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson waded into that dispute. FOX 5 I-Staff reporter Johnny Edwards obtained a scathing letter concerning the nightclub, despatched by Thomspon to Atlanta’s chief of police and mayor, a couple of months earlier than he died.
ATLANTA – Earlier than his loss of life in workplace final month, Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson tried to sound an alarm a few downtown nightclub, the FOX 5 I-Staff has realized.
Lyfe ATL, previously Harlem Nights Extremely Lounge, sits on state property owned by the Division of Labor, on the nook of Courtland Avenue and Andrew Younger Worldwide Boulevard. In a letter written to Atlanta’s police chief, obtained by the I-Staff, Thompson known as the nightclub/restaurant “a nuisance to our neighborhood” and requested for an investigation.
He cited filthy circumstances, “disgustingly soiled” restrooms, a “pervasive” scent of marijuana, and chained and barricaded doorways posing hearth and security dangers. Thompson additionally instructed the chief about a number of shootings in recent times at or close to the membership.
Georgia’s late Labor commissioner requested Atlanta police to research Lyfe ATL, previously Harlem Nights Extremely Lounge. (FOX 5)
“I can’t assist however surmise that rather more than consuming, consuming, and music occur on this membership,” Thompson stated in a letter to Chief Darin Shierbaum, dated Oct. 7, “and I’m baffled at how this institution passes well being and sanitation inspections based mostly on the circumstances I noticed throughout my temporary stroll via of the property.”
Georgia Division of Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson died Nov. 24 at age 59. (Georgia Division of Labor)
The commissioner died seven weeks later, after a battle with pancreatic most cancers.
His letter was copied to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. The I-Staff decided the letter apparently led to a number of hearth code and Board of Well being citations, with the membership discovered to be working and not using a present alcohol license and with some hearth alarms not working.
Lyfe ATL stays open.
When Thompson, a statewide elected official, personally inspected the constructing, he was apparently making an attempt to assist the membership’s landlord. Sandy Campbell owns the constructing and leases the land from the Division of Labor. Court docket data present she has been making an attempt to evict Lyfe ATL for years in what’s turn into a messy, drawn-out authorized battle.
Campbell instructed the I-Staff she hasn’t collected lease from the nightclub since 2022.
“It’s a horrible state of affairs,” Campbell stated. “It ought to have been dealt with years in the past, and it simply has gone via the channels of roadblock after roadblock.”
Sandy Campbell owns a constructing on Courtland Avenue that sits on state property, which she rents to Lyfe ATL, a restaurant/nightclub. (FOX 5)
Thompson additionally wrote in his letter to the chief that he noticed individuals who seemed to be dwelling within the membership, with showers inside that “don’t slot in with any regular nightclub enterprise mannequin.”
The I-Staff requested to view the within of the membership and requested an interview with Chauncy Sturdy, CEO of CLS Leisure, which operates Lyfe ATL. Sturdy declined, referring inquiries to his lawyer, who didn’t present an announcement.
‘They nonetheless received’t pay’
On weekends, after midnight, Lyfe ATL comes alive. Lengthy strains stretch exterior the door, and movies posted on the membership’s Instagram account present a packed home.
However no matter Lyfe ATL brings in, Campbell says she’s not seeing a penny of it.
A line types exterior the door of Lyfe ATL early on Nov. 17. (FOX 5)
“They’re working, however they nonetheless received’t pay,” she stated.
Legally, although, the membership doesn’t must, the I-Staff discovered from a evaluation of courtroom paperwork.
Campbell’s firm, Kenkam LLC, and the membership’s proprietor have been embroiled in litigation for years, a dispute that began when the membership exercised its choice to purchase the constructing through the Covid pandemic.
This picture is from a video posted on Lyfe ATL’s Instagram web page.
In accordance with courtroom data, the events dispute which aspect is responsible for a number of missed deadlines. At one level, a Fulton County choose ordered the membership to pay $11,000 a month in lease, and later, to vacate the constructing. Then the Georgia Court docket of Appeals overturned that, saying Decide Kimberly M. Esmond Adams erred in ordering greater than $200,000 in again lease.
Campbell stated her month-to-month bills on the constructing whole about $8,000.
Thompson stepped in after listening to about her predicament, she stated.
“I organized to have the proprietor open the doorways for the commissioner and several other of his assistants,” Campbell stated. “And that’s the primary time I’ve been within the constructing in years.”
After looking inside, the late commissioner wrote to the police chief and mayor, “To say I’m appalled on the situation of the premises and extremely involved on the actions occurring within the membership is an understatement.”
Constructing proprietor Sandy Campbell instructed the FOX 5 I-Staff she hasn’t collected lease from the nightclub since 2022, however her month-to-month bills on the constructing whole about $8,000. (FOX 5)
Amongst his bullet factors, Thompson reported that final yr, somebody died on the membership’s again steps and “was not observed or addressed by the nightclub house owners for employees for 2 (2) days.”
That description seems to match the case of a 44-year-old man discovered lifeless on the steps in August 2023, who died from fentanyl and had cocaine in his system, in line with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Workplace.
Additionally, in June 2023, FOX 5 reported that an off-duty Atlanta police officer was shot within the arm whereas working safety there. A police report describes a drive-by capturing.
License reactivated
Thompson, who had been identified with Stage 4 pancreatic most cancers, died Nov. 24 at age 59.
“I believe every thing’s in limbo once more now,” Campbell stated. “I’m simply at a crossroads at a lifeless finish road, it seems like.”
Lyfe ATL sits simply up the road from the headquarters of the Georgia Division of Labor, which owns the land. (FOX 5)
So what grew to become of the commissioner’s letter?
The Atlanta Police Division instructed the I-Staff in an e mail that, early final month, a examine of the membership discovered “a number of violations,” with citations issued by the Fulton County Board of Well being and the fireplace division. APD stated “the enterprise was discovered to don’t have any present alcohol license and no energetic meals service allow,” including that the membership “isn’t allowed to function till the problems discovered have been resolved.”
Whether or not all points have been resolved isn’t clear. The membership seemed to be open on a latest weekend.
A line for Lyfe ATL stretches across the nook early on Nov. 17. (FOX 5)
“APD officers assigned to the world have been directed to patrol the placement and deal with any prison exercise discovered,” the police assertion stated. “We’ll proceed to observe exercise on the enterprise and work to make sure any prison exercise there may be addressed.”
Citations offered by Atlanta Hearth Rescue, issued to the membership and to an on-site supervisor, have been for inoperable hearth alarms, combustibles saved too near warmth sources, and waste accumulation. A courtroom date is ready for subsequent month, and a Hearth spokeswoman stated the membership can function whereas these citations are pending.
A spokesman stated the county Board of Well being cited the membership for working a meals service institution and not using a legitimate meals allow and correct refrigeration.
For a number of years, Lyfe ATL has been in a messy authorized dispute with its landlord and at present is not legally required to pay lease. (FOX 5)
The I-Staff additionally confirmed that the Georgia Division of Income visited the membership final month, discovered it to be missing a state alcohol license, and ordered the membership to cease promoting alcohol, state paperwork present.
However a Income division spokesman stated the membership “addressed the matter,” so its alcohol license has been reactivated.
The Supply: This can be a FOX 5 I-Staff report based mostly on interviews, police studies from the Atlanta Police Division, statements from the Georgia Division of Income and paperwork from the Atlanta Hearth Rescue.
