Added June 29, 2026. Founders Hall is offered for sale as well as
lease. Below we model buying the building three ways. These are planning estimates; the actual asking
price is broker-only and will tighten every figure.
The key insight that drives everything: The tiki venue is a ~5,000–8,000 SF
concept earning ~$450K before occupancy cost. The building is 30,600 SF
— roughly $13–16M at downtown Alpharetta comps (~$430–525/SF; a
nearby trophy set a Georgia record at ~$432/SF). The bar therefore cannot carry the whole
building by itself. The more space you lease to tenants, the higher the price you can
afford — because steady tenant rent covers debt far more reliably than restaurant earnings.
Yes, buying and leasing ~70% works.
Side-by-side: three ways to buy
Shared assumptions: business EBITDAR ~$450K; net tenant rent ~$30/SF (NNN, after
vacancy & management); owner carry (property tax + insurance + reserves) ~$6/SF on owner-occupied
space; conventional investment loan 7%/25-yr at 30% down; SBA 504 at 6.5%/25-yr, 10% down.
| |
Option 1 — Whole building, lease ~70% |
Option 2 — Right-sized unit |
Option 3 — Whole building, you use most |
| Your footprint |
Ground-floor tiki + rooftop bar (~30%) |
One floor (~8,500 SF) |
Ground tiki + middle-floor putting + rooftop + events (~67%) |
| You lease out |
~21,400 SF (floors 2 & 3) |
~1,500 SF |
~10,200 SF (one floor) |
| Purchase price |
~$13.5M (market) |
~$4.5M |
~$9.8M max* |
| Down payment |
30% ≈ $4.05M |
10% ≈ $450K (SBA 504) |
30% ≈ $2.94M |
| Loan & rate |
$9.45M @ ~7% / 25-yr (conventional) |
$4.05M @ ~6.5% / 25-yr (SBA) |
$6.86M @ ~7% / 25-yr |
| Annual debt service |
~$801K | ~$328K | ~$582K |
| Business EBITDAR |
~$450K | ~$450K | ~$570K (incl. putting) |
| Net tenant rent |
~$642K | ~$45K | ~$306K |
| Owner carry (tax/ins/reserve) |
−$55K | −$51K | −$122K |
| Net annual cash flow |
+$236K |
+$116K |
+$172K |
| Debt-service coverage (DSCR) |
1.29× | 1.35× | 1.30× |
| Cash-on-cash return |
~5.8% | ~26% | ~5.9% |
| What you get |
Full vision minus putting; biggest wealth build; you're a landlord |
Cheapest & cleanest entry; rooftop or ground, not both; no putting |
Full vision incl. putting — but only at a discounted price |
*Option 3 at full market price (~$13.5M) runs about −$47K/yr
(0.94× DSCR) — it does not cover. Using most of the building yourself caps the price you
can responsibly pay at ~$9.8M. That is the cost of keeping the middle floor for putting instead of leasing it.
Beyond cash flow — the wealth you build by owning
This is the real reason to buy rather than lease. A landlord can't, and you can't on a lease either:
| Annual wealth driver | Option 1 ($13.5M) | Option 2 ($4.5M) | Option 3 ($9.8M) |
|---|
| Depreciation (straight-line, 39-yr) | ~$277K | ~$92K | ~$201K |
| Cost-segregation (accelerated yr 1) | Potentially $1–3M of front-loaded deductions — our build-out (theming, programmable lighting, bar & FF&E, site work) is unusually heavy in 5/7/15-yr property, exactly what cost-seg accelerates. Confirm current bonus-depreciation % with CPA. |
| Appreciation @ 3%/yr | ~$405K | ~$135K | ~$294K |
| Equity paydown (yr-1 principal) | ~$140K | ~$65K | ~$102K |
Total economic return, yr 1
(cash flow + appreciation + paydown) |
~$781K
~19% on equity |
~$316K
~70% on equity |
~$568K
~19% on equity |
Why owning beats leasing here
- You capture the value you create. As a tenant, our $1M+ rooftop/theming build-out improves someone else's asset and exposes us at renewal. As owner we keep 100% of it — and can't be relocated.
- Cost-segregation depreciation shelters business & other income (impossible on a leased building).
- Appreciation in one of metro Atlanta's hottest submarkets + forced equity savings via amortization.
- Fixed-rate debt is an inflation hedge; refinance/cash-out and 1031 optionality later.
- Two assets from one effort — an operating business and appreciating Town Green real estate.
What owning adds in risk / capital
- Much more cash up front (down payment + build-out + reserves).
- You become a landlord — leasing, tenant management, vacancy risk on the leased floors.
- Property-tax reassessment on purchase (~1.1–1.3% of price ≈ $140–170K/yr on $13.5M).
- Less liquidity; concentration in one asset.
- Rooftop access: the rooftop is reached through the upper floor, so “ground tiki + rooftop bar” effectively means controlling the top and bottom of the building — a layout/diligence item to confirm with the broker & architect.
Recommendation: Option 1 (buy the building, lease ~70%) is the
wealth-building play and it cash-flows at market price with a buffer — the tenants carry the
mortgage while we run the tiki + rooftop on the ground and roof. Option 2 is the
low-capital, low-risk way in (SBA 504, ~$450K down) if we'd rather start small. Option 3
(keep the middle floor for putting) only makes sense if we can buy at ~$9.8M, since the putting floor
replaces reliable tenant rent. Next step is the broker's actual sale price — it confirms which
of these is real.