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“Our business hypothesis was, ‘If we build it, they will stay.’ “
David Marvin was doubly afflicted: he had the developer’s “optimistic” curse and was not from Atlanta. The MIT real estate graduate couldn’t reckon why no one was developing in downtown Atlanta.
So he did, buying five acres in 1994 and, over 20 years, building hotels, condominiums, restaurants and bars, leveraging his investment with Chinese partners. He sweated through the 1996 Olympics, a recession and countless scary debt moments.
Today his family lives in a penthouse overlooking Centennial Olympic Park. They breathe easier, having just recapitalized millions in investment while walking to new museums across from his successful Luckie Marietta vision.