Fresh Loaf

Little Kathy: Very sad. I’ve been working here for over 20 years. I came here when I was in my 20s. I can’t even imagine life without the Clermont. I’ve always had a positive thought that everything will work itself out and that we’ll be OK. If there are new owners, they will take into consideration that lots of people love the Clermont. They come from all over the world. It’s a landmark. We have girls from 21 to 60. Here, you really get to know the customer — not like the other clubs where they don’t even remember your name.

Pink: Different. It’s an institution, a rite of passage. For a lot of guys, it might be the first time they’ve seen a naked woman, or they might be going through something at home and they need to talk to one of the girls and maybe feel better. I’ve taken [the Clermont's impending foreclosure] in stride, but it upsets me a little bit. We’re a family. People care about each other. You don’t get that in a lot of strip clubs. This place has helped me through a lot of tough times. The money is great and there’s no pressure. I love it here.

Blondie: I’m not worried about it. The public would have a fit if this place was closed down. It’s a monument. I’m very optimistic they won’t close. If they closed, they’d just open somewhere else — but it wouldn’t be the same. This is a very easy spot for everybody to come to. I just walked to work. And guys, when you sit around the bar and don’t tip the girls, I’m disgusted by that. We give them a great show. I do a beer crunch between my breasts. I used to do it for $5 but I had to go up to $10.

(Photos by Jeff Slate)

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1. Congress debates, votes on cap-and-trade energy bill (Good news: The House passed the monumental energy-conversation bill. Bad news: Georgia Congressman Paul Broun has embarrassed the entire state.)

2. Clermont foreclosure is tip of the iceberg (The plot thickens.)

3. Michael Jackson tributes in Atlanta (Atlanta celebrates the King of Pop. Twitter crashes. And Perez Hilton weeps.)

4. Coolest contest ever: Redesign the Clermont Hotel (The contest would have been a lot cooler if the seedy hotel wasn’t in danger of foreclosure. See No. 2.)

5. Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter told to vacate building (In the end, surprisingly, the homeless prevailed.)

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UPDATE: This might NOT be the coolest contest ever, because the Clermont is facing foreclosure. More to come. Stay tuned!

Atlanta’s favorite den of iniquity is calling “all designers, architects, students, creative geniuses, butlers, bell boys, photographers, tourists, bartenders, dancers and engineers” to try their hand at redesigning the iconic Clermont Hotel.

But it’s not the hotel’s infamous basement lounge — where boobs obliterate beer cans and strippers strut their sometimes sagging stuff — that needs a makeover. No way.

Rather, it’s the hotel’s lobby, rooftop and guestrooms that are dying for a new look. (And, in the case of the rooms, a new set of sheets.) The real estate brokerage firm that’s attempting to sell the hotel — while preserving the lounge, of course — is offering $1,000 (rad), a weekend at the Clermont (sorta rad, as long as you bring your own linens, air freshener and earplugs) and a year’s supply of Whynatte energy drink (a seemingly unappealing but reportedly tasty latte in a can) to the winning design.

Second prize is somewhat less desirable: a PBR tall boy and a lap dance.

According to the submission form:

Candidates are requested to submit design concepts that visually convey the re-birth of The Clermont Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The Clermont Hotel is a long standing icon just to the east of Midtown Atlanta and home to the nationally renowned Clermont Lounge which opened in 1965. Submissions should capture the uniqueness and funkiness the Clermont is known for. … Candidates are encouraged to work within perspective views (supplied on web site) and provide a concept statement.

The deadline for entries is July 22. Might I suggest this for inspiration?

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Asking price for Clermont Hotel, in millions of dollars: 6.5

Number of times the building has been listed for sale in past half-century, including now: 2

Reported sale price in 2003, in millions of dollars: 3.4

Room number for one-time hotel resident G.G. Allin: 216

Number of other Atlanta buildings that employ elevator operators: 0

Year the Continental Room, an upscale supper club, opened in the hotel basement: 1955

Year the restaurant was replaced by a go-go bar: 1965

Number of years of continuous operation for the go-go bar (now the Clermont Lounge), Atlanta’s oldest strip club: 44

Average age of Clermont Lounge dancers: N/A

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Yes, you read correctly: The fabled Clermont Motor Hotel is up for sale for only the second time in more than a half-century. The seven-story, 130-room hotel has been owned since 2003 by Atlanta’s Inman Park Properties, which bought it from the Loudermilk family. The Loudermilks had operated the Clermont since the ’50s and, the last I heard, still manage the property.

Inman Park Properties has done little to change the hotel, except to lower the rates from $50 to about $35 (that’s nightly, not hourly, wise guy). As company president Jeff Notrica promised when he bought the hotel, the notorious Clermont Lounge has been left untouched. A few Clermont-philes were briefly spooked last year when the company advertised for investment partners to help pay for renovations. But based on the fact that IPP is now trying to unload the hotel, I’m guessing a partner never materialized.

It seemed odd to me that the company, which deals in commercial real estate, is not the listing agent for the Clermont, so I called said agent, Gene Kansas, to see what’s going on. Kansas says he’s been hired to find a buyer who’s a good fit for the hotel — and who’ll not want to meddle with Blondie’s downstairs demimonde.

(more…)

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BLONDIE STILL IN ACTION: The Clermont Lounge’s infamous beer-can-crusher will be available for your viewing pleasure. (Photo by Joeff Davis)

We heard back from Inman Park properties agent Danny Glusman and he tells us that, while the company has been marketing the Clermont Hotel, the idea is to attract investors, not buyers.

Inman Park Properties bought the 1940-era hotel nearly five years ago from its longtime owner, Lillian Loudermilk, for an undisclosed price that likely was between $3 million and $4 million. But the company, which owns a number of historic buildings in Atlanta and Savannah, kept the hotel’s veteran management team in place and, apart from putting up a few new signs, seemingly hasn’t changed so much as a curtain.

Glusman says he’s shopping for a “renovation partner to invest in the hotel” so his company can make some much-needed repairs and bring the property up to code. The hotel, for instance, is possibly the last building in Atlanta to employ full-time elevator operators. (And, speaking as a former short-term resident, I wouldn’t be surprised if simply replacing the carpeting qualifies as a Superfund project.) Glusman, however, wouldn’t reveal how much money is needed to fix up the property.

As for the beloved Clermont Lounge, Glusman says there are no plans to fix what ain’t broke: Blondie and crew are welcome to keep gyrating downstairs as long as their pelvic joints hold out.

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People For The Ethical Treatment of Empty Beer Cans is giddy.

The rest of us are nervous.

The Clermont Hotel and its property are for sale.

We do not yet know if this means the Clermont Lounge, which resides at the bottom of the hotel, is going to close.

We’ll let you know as soon as we find out.

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