The good folks at Atlanta DNA (Downtown Neighborhood Association) have produced a map of grocery stores within a two mile radius of the heart of the city, complete with MARTA routes and all. Check it out:
H/T @magisplanning
The pigs in a blanket at Serpas
Are grocery stores the new restaurants? (Publix and Whole Foods are tres chic in our current economy.)
Grazing: Two in East Atlanta (If you do manage to find some spare change tucked away, stop by the Glenwood and Matador Mexican Cantina and Tequila Bar.)
Lunch at Craftbar (Cliff’s spare change led him to Tom Collichio’s Craftbar.)
Review: Serpas (Besha takes a bite out of Scott Serpas’ first solo venture.)
Knife’s Edge: Food borne illness (”Top Chef” alum Richard Blais — and new CL columnist — waxes philosophical about food industry douche baggery.)
Read more from Omnivore.
(Photo by James Camp)
Memorial Drive’s fast-moving metamorphosis from industrial eyesore to a neighborhood with amenities continued last week after the Atlanta Regional Commission stamped its seal of approval on a 10-acre development that would feature a much-needed grocery store.
The project on the corner of Memorial Drive and Pearl Street would add 71,000 square feet of retail, 12,000 square feet of office space and 350 housing units to the area. It also requires the demolition of the Atlanta Dairies building.
Atlanta-based developers Brand Properties wouldn’t return calls about the project. Judging from site plans submitted to the commission, however, the $65-million project’s layout would be similar to that of the nearby Edgewood Shopping Center on Moreland Avenue — except more compact and a bit friendlier to foot traffic. It features storefronts along the streets surrounding a parking deck and courtyards.
It’s an ambitious endeavor at a time when financing is tight and housing is a gamble. But it’s also a development that regional planners say is smart for Memorial Drive — a close-to-downtown thoroughfare that’s seen land prices escalate as more people want to live closer to the city.
“Kind of the easiest way to think of it is ‘Paris-style’ density — four stories with ground-level retail,” Dan Reuter of the commission says. “It’s similar to what you find in Chicago, San Francisco and even New York City. It provides a good concentration of people in an area that can support retail.”
For the project to proceed, the city must rezone the property. If things go according to plan, the developers estimate the project will be complete in June 2010.
Awesome news. Developers say the full-service grocer planned for the old Atlanta Dairies location will be a “mainstream” store, but not a high-end chain such as Whole Foods or Fresh Market. Regardless, if you live nearby, you’re getting a place within walking distance to buy food.
(Thanks to Paul Donsky at the AJC)
Not necessarily breaking news, but disappointing news nonetheless for anyone like myself who wanted to see a grocery store in downtown Atlanta — a development that was announced many moons ago.
At today’s City Council finance committee meeting, Cheryl Strickland of the Atlanta Development Authority told Councilmember Kwanza Hall that the planned Publix at 24 Allen Plaza — part of the Westside TAD — is indeed on hold. Strickland says Barry Real Estate, the developer of the proposed project, has been unable to lure a large enough office occupant for the building that would also house the grocery store. It also banked on more TAD funding to be available for the development. Hall told Strickland he was disappointed but that he was going to pursue the idea.
(The Westside TAD is just one of the 27 across the state that were severely impacted by the February Georgia Supreme Court ruling that school taxes couldn’t be used for non-educational purposes.)
But that’s a shame about the Publix. A grocery store with fresh food and other assorted sundries would give residents in the booming area another reason to never start their cars.
Oakhurst residents are pooling ideas on the community’s online message board and crossing their fingers for a grocery store to occupy the strip mall that houses Mulligan’s bar on East Lake Drive. Some want to see the packaged-goods luxury-grub chain take its place and are encouraging neighbors to tell Trader Joe’s. Others want a store akin to the Candler Market located in that eponymous neighborhood.
A thought from “Christi”:
Basically we just need some sort of option that Oakhurst residents can walk to to purchase decent groceries! I think the neighborhood has definitely reached the point of being able to support some sort of small grocery store.
Here’s what another resident says about previous conversations regarding bringing in the chain:
I took the Decatur 101 class in March and the word that we got in
that class was that Trader Joes was not interested in Decatur. The
demographics were too mixed for them. They apparently go by the
30030 zip code when looking for locations and that zip includes some
areas that they consider too transitional (or maybe not transitional
enough).
“Lackofascreenname” offers some thoughts worth keeping in mind:
That would be sweet but, as I understand it, it definitely comes with
some challenges.First, East Lake/Oakview don’t have the traffic counts TJ’s typically
requires. And, given our diversity of opinion on other growth-related
issues, I have to assume that if a TJ’s in Oakhurst began to induce
the kind of traffic they want, not everyone in the ‘hood would be
overjoyed about it.Second, the word on the street (so take with a grain of salt) is that
the last time a grocery entity was interested in that space, the
building’s owner insisted upon such a short lease that the cost of
build-out could never be recouped. Of course, there’s always been a
lot of rumors about that strip, so believe what you will…All things considered, I think I’m still a fan of the idea but it’s
always good to have a grasp of the issues up front.
A well-rounded neighborhood with local services needs a nearby store where you can buy food — preferably without having to jump into a car to do so. As communities become more desirable and developed it’s easy for these businesses — many of which operate with very low profit margins — to get edged out. But they’re vitally important. Just like you need transportation options to serve the residents moving to these areas, you need other services that’ll make the community more sustainable.
Downtown Atlanta needs a grocery store. (I’ve seen signs for a planned Kroger located west of City Hall.) Publix already has a pretty good game going in Decatur with locations on Clairemont Road and at Commerce Avenue, but if the city could sneak in a mid-size market downtown it’d surely have a robust customer base of residents who live within walking distance.
