Award-Winning Restaurant Kimball House to Assume Ownership of Its Decatur Building

The owners of awarding-winning restaurant Kimball House just entered into a $1.385 million sales agreement with Decatur’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to purchase its East Howard Avenue building.

In a time when very few restaurateurs actually own the buildings in which their restaurants reside and developers are gobbling up property all around Atlanta, this agreement likely secures the longterm future of Kimball House in Decatur. DDA chair Conor McNally says that the success of Kimball House helped lead to further growth along East Howard Avenue, which now includes a number of new residences, retail shops, and restaurants like BBQ Cafe, Kelly’s Market and Deli, and the future home of Opo Coffee, from the owner of Taproom Coffee in Kirkwood, across the street. Since opening in 2013, Kimball House has been both locally and nationally recognized numerous times for its cocktails, bar program, and oyster service.

According to a press release, the agreement between Kimball Mill LLC and the DDA was reached Friday, October 14, with funds from the sale slated for reinvestment to help make improvements to downtown Decatur.

Kimball House co-owner Bryan Rackley says he and his partners have already invested more than $750,000 over the last decade to maintain the building and preserve some integral design details of the former train depot built in 1891. The building is under the ordinance protection of the local Historic Preservation Commission. Any changes to the exterior must first be approved by the commission.

“We are even more committed to the preservation of this living landmark as its new owners,” says Rackley in a prepared statement.

According to further reporting by Decaturish, Kimball House’s lease expires at the end of the month and will likely shift to month-to-month until the sale is complete, which should take place in the next 45 days.

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