ATLANTA — Atlanta rappers T.I. and Killer Mike secured a million-dollar loan to put toward the reopening of Bankhead Seafood Restaurant.
Greenwood, a financial services firm geared toward Black and Latino consumers and businesses, announced the $1.2 million loan for the restaurant with backing from Georgia Banking Co.
The loan "will support Bankhead Seafood Restaurants’ growth across Atlanta," according to a news release. Helen Harden first opened Bankhead Seafood in 1968 on what was then known as Bankhead Highway. The restaurant closed a half-century later, in 2018. The same year, Michael "Killer Mike" Render and Clifford "T.I." Harris partnered with Noel Khalil, the late founder of Columbia Residential LLC, to buy the restaurant that they had patronized growing up in Atlanta.
In March 2020, days before the pandemic shut down the world, Render announced the group's plans to renovate and reopen Bankhead Seafood. At the time, he said two Southwest Atlanta natives partnering to revive a beloved local business was an actionable way to fight gentrification in the area.