Back in the day, when you wanted good food around the Mall West End, you had options.
Inside, you could order Fish in the Pocket’s fried whiting sandwich and a peach punch. Just outside the mall in one direction there was Satterwhite’s down-home cooking, and Chanterelle’s Cajun-influenced soul food in the other.
When Andrew Katz visited three years ago, he didn’t see the same choices for food around the shopping center.
“We wanted to go to lunch,” said Katz, co-founder of New York-based commercial real estate developer The Prusik Group who, along with residential housing developer BRP Companies, are the chief investors in the mall’s recently announced $450 million redevelopment.
“We couldn’t find food anywhere. We went to the AUC, and we’re asking the security guards where we can eat, and they directed us to a restaurant that was near Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That was a eureka moment. I’m like, ‘This is crazy. We just walked 35 minutes and it’s 95 degrees.’”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when things cooled down at the Mall West End. Since its 1972 opening, it was as much a cultural hub for local residents and AUC students as it was a retail destination.
Rap video shoots, health fairs and the Black “Kente Claus” version of Father Christmas all made regular appearances at the mall. Every weekend brought about something new and fun.
Today, the mall’s corridors are empty. Shops have closed. It’s true that shopping malls around the U.S. have taken revenue hits since Amazon’s ascendance, but the punches to West End seem to have hit a bit harder.
“The aesthetics of the mall have changed a lot,” said Shyronda Billingslea, a customer who’s been shopping or working in the mall since the 1970s. “The vendors are coming in and out. Nobody has stayed. I remember when it was a Revco Drugs, Sears and an Ashley Stewart in the mall.”
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Area shoppers have gone without options for a long time. Wayfield Foods left years ago, as did Maxway. Call it economics or a lack of inner-city empathy, but whatever you do, don’t expect to call around West End for restaurants accepting dinner reservations without being disappointed.
The Prusik Group and minority-owned BRP Companies insist those days are numbered.
“What we have done since the inception of our business is identify underserved communities and say, ‘Hey, these communities deserve better,’” said Katz, whose company spearheaded a new mixed-use development on 125th Street in Harlem, anchored by Target, Trader Joe’s and the National Urban League’s headquarters.
“If you live in the West End, you should be able to go to a decent grocery store. You should have a fitness club. You should have a sports bar so you can watch Monday Night Football.”
BRP Companies plans to bring 900 mixed-income rental units to the West End development. “While this is not rocket science, you have to be able to program something that’s realistic,” said Andrew Cohen, managing director of development at BRP Companies.
“I think some of the proposals earlier on looked really cool, but they were probably pretty hard to pull off,” he added. “The team maybe wasn’t there in terms of having the residential and retail expertise you need to do this.”
Those who’ve followed developers’ interests in the intersection of Lee Street and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard are likely familiar with pie-in-the-sky promises and half-baked deals surrounding a mall makeover in recent years. During the October 16 acquisition celebration, where the name of the new project, One West End, was unveiled, the new ownership team reassured city officials, community leaders and area business owners in attendance that this time would be different.
For starters, after a grueling three-plus years of negotiating, this sale is 100% official. There are no promissory notes — the paper is real and the ink is dry.
The new contract also has the city’s blessing. While The Prusik Group and BRP Companies are the primary owners of the 12-acre property just off I-20, the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Beltline Inc. and a few other entities have a vested financial interest in the project.
Local talent is also being employed for the project. Local PR firm DT Communications, founded by Spelman graduate Deven Trowers, has been brought on to handle One West End’s public relations and branding.
Arguably the most important aspect to the deal is that it appears to have the backing of neighborhood voices.
“What I liked about [the new mall owners] was we asked them to meet with mall business owners, the business owners outside of the mall and the community stakeholders. They agreed to all of those meetings,” said Angela Clyde, a long-time mall customer, area resident and chair of Neighborhood Planning Unit-T, which covers the West End, the Atlanta University Center and other surrounding areas.
“They came down,” stated Clyde, “and took the time to meet with those businesses, and hear their concerns and explain their vision. There’s not been a time when I’ve tried to reach out to them and I’ve not been able to get them right away.”
Like with many other ATL neighborhoods, there’s a gray area in the West End between preserving the past and pushing for progress. Clyde and other community organizers want to ensure the mall’s legacy businesses — such as Dendera Cosmetics, a mall tenant since 1980, and the Burning Sands, a Greek apparel shop that opened in 1999 — aren’t lost in the excitement over shiny new buildings and parking decks.
“I grew up at West End Mall,” said Alicia Porter, owner of the Burning Sands. “I got on my feet as an entrepreneur at the West End Mall. It helped me grow. It provided for my family. It helped put my daughter through school. I’ve made friends out of customers. It’s been a part of my life. I’m grateful for all that it’s meant to me and this community.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Katz says those sentiments are not lost on him. The plan, he said, is when demolition of the current mall begins in early 2025, some long-standing businesses will be temporarily relocated to another part of the mall that’ll be torn down in a later phase. Once the first phase is completed in 2026, those shops will simply move to new spaces.
“You have to put the puzzle together from a retail perspective,” said Katz, who is not divulging names of occupants until formal lease agreements have been signed. “How do we get national tenants in here that are going to keep the project sustainable and anchor it? You need a long-term lease with nationals that you’re not worried are going to go out of business.”
Katz also noted that hungry pedestrians will find more dining options when the project is complete. “We want to make sure we have restaurants/hospitality places to create a sense of place.”
If owners can cook up something for One West End that’s equal parts big-box and mom-and-pop, with a side of sustenance, a community starving for change might eat it up.
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