Glenn Building (The Glenn Hotel)

The ten-story building at 110 Marietta St. NW was designed as an office building in the western part of downtown Atlanta. Completed in December 1923, the Glenn Building was named for the late John Thomas Glenn, the Mayor of Atlanta from 1889 to 1891. The two street sides are faced in brown limestone while the two other facades are brick. Terra cotta lion heads peek out from the attic level. The long-vacant Glenn Building became a boutique hotel (The Glenn Hotel) in 2006 after extensive renovations, as part of Marriott International's Autograph Collection. In 2008, the Glenn Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its Neoclassical Revival architecture and its relation to the history of downtown Atlanta commerce.

The Glenn Building was named for John Thomas Glenn (1844-1899), an Atlanta attorney and its mayor from January 1889 to January 1891. Glenn died suddenly in March 1899, leaving a wife and four children. The city's courts and public schools were closed at one o'clock on the day of his funeral so that people could attend. Glenn was buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery. His widow, Helen A. Garrard Glenn, passed away in 1924 at age 74. Funds from his estate were part of the financial backing for the Glenn Building, completed a months before Mrs. Glenn's death.

Architect J. Waddy Wood designed the Classical Revival style office building. Excavation for the basement level began in March 1923 and the building was completed in December. The ten-story, L-shaped building was clad in smooth-cut brown limestone on the two main facades and brick on the other two sides. There are seven structural bays along the 90 ft. facing Marietta St. (north side of building) and six along the 130 ft. facing Spring St. (east). The main floor featured shops on the ground and mezzanine levels. Neoclassical polychrome panels decorate the spaces above the third and eighth floors. The heavy slab cornice features lion heads peeking out from the attic level above the tenth-floor windows.

Palmer Inc., a real estate firm headed by Charles Forrest Palmer (1892-1973), purchased the Glenn in 1925. Palmer Inc. specialized in owning and managing downtown commercial properties. There were dozens of tenants in 1929. Along the main streetside were C.D. Harris Soda Company (120 Marietta), I.T. Cowan Barber Shop (122), Western Union (124), and A. Nash & Co. Tailors (126). The Candler family of Coca-Cola fame bought the Glenn in 1933. Five floors contained the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1940.

Vacant for many years, the interior was considered unusable by current standards, and the building was considered for demolition. In 1986, Easements Atlanta purchased an historic facades easement on the Glenn, saving it. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta purchased the Glenn Building in 1987 as a way to expand its Marietta Street facility but later changed its mind and moved to Midtown. The building was bought by the City of Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Department in 1997.

The Glenn Building was placed on a local list of Atlanta's ten biggest eyesores in 2003. Legacy Property Group of Atlanta purchased the Glenn Building for $2.8 million in 2003. After extensive renovations by Legacy Property Group costing $2.2 million, not much of the Glenn's interior remained, but the exterior was preserved. The building was reborn in 2006 as the Glenn Hotel, a boutique hotel, as part of Marriott International's Autograph Collection. In 2008, the Glenn Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its importance in local architecture and commerce.

Clark, J. Colin. Memorial for John Thomas Clark (1844-1899), FindaGrave. December 12th, 2009. Accessed March 13th, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45364942/john-thomas-glenn.

Emory U. Libraries & Information Technologies. Charles F. Palmer Papers, 1903-1973, Finding Aids. January 1st, 1982. Accessed March 14th, 2023. https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/palmer9/.

Hornady, John R. Atlanta: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. American Cities Book Company, 1922.

Nirenstein, Nathan. Composite Map of One Hundred Percent Business Real Estate Locations, Atlanta (Georgia) Sheets 1 and 2. Springfield, MA. Nathan Nirenstein, 1929.

Speno, Lynn. NRHP nomination of Glenn Building, 110 Marietta St., Atlanta, Georgia. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2008.

Stafford, Leon. "New purposes for Atlanta's old eyesores." Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta) August 23rd, 2009. Local News sec.