Historic Westside Village

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New townhomes at Westside Village, August 2012
A Walmart under construction at Westside Village, August 2012

"'Historic Westside Village"' is a mixed-use development in Vine City, Atlanta including a Walmart, other retail stores, and apartment complexes.

History[]

In 1999, the Atlanta Housing Authority first announced plans for the "Historic Westside Village", a $130 million commercial, residential and retail project at the area's southern end near Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. at Ashby St.[1]

Publix failure[]

A Publix supermarket opened in May 2002[2] but the overall project stalled by 2003 as further anchor tenants did not materialize.[3] This, along with disappointing sales, caused the Publix - the only full-sized supermarket for miles around - to close in December 2009.[4] Creative Loafing called the project the most notorious "municipal boondoggle...to have tarred Atlanta" during mayor Bill Campbell's era; the project "fell victim to...cronyism, bureaucratic incompetence and a flagrant disregard for federal lending guidelines".[5]

Walmart success[]

In December 2010 things looked up as the Atlanta Development Authority announced plans for Wal-Mart to open a store on the site, which Mayor Kasim Reed called "an end to the food desert in the area".[6][7] In January 2013 the Wal-Mart opened for business.[8][9]

"Legends of Historic Westside Village"[]

In 2015, "Legends of Historic Westside Village" exhibit was unveiled, "a series of photos of community activists, businesses, and educational institutions that impacted the neighborhood" including Mayor Maynard Holbrook Jackson, former Judge , Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes, Sr., and educator W.E.B Du Bois.[10][11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Westside due a $130 million redo", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 16, 1999
  2. ^ "A DREAM FULFILLED: Intown Publix to open", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 30, 2002
  3. ^ "David Pendered, "Entangled in Vine City; 'The city lost control': Officials scramble to save project to renew Historic Westside Village", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 28, 2003". Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  4. ^ "Historic Westside Village Publix To Close, Residents Not Happy", MAJIC radio station site, December 2009
  5. ^ Scott Henry, "Westside Do-over", Creative Loafing, April 26, 2006
  6. ^ "Historic Westside Community on Road to Revitalization", Atlanta Development Authority, December 13, 2010
  7. ^ ""Historic Westside Village Welcomes Walmart" (presentation), Atlanta Development Agency, December 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  8. ^ "New Walmart opens in Vine City", WSB-TV, January 23, 2013
  9. ^ "Vine City/AUC Walmart Grand Opening on Wednesday 1/23: Walmart has said they are ready to open to the public", Marc Richardson, Cascade Patch, January 21, 2013
  10. ^ http://www.ajc.com/news/local/city-celebrates-legacy-historic-westside-village/X48oO4KzhLf2Lygxb43CrM/
  11. ^ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nput_members/bPIBCh4ATMk
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