Plans for what developers call a lively, adaptive-reuse entertainment concept and tailgating hotspot near Mercedes-Benz Stadium are coming into sharper focus.
Along the southern edge of its 19-acre Echo Street West project, developer Lincoln Property Group is remaking three former automotive buildings and garages into an indoor-outdoor gathering place it calls Westside Motor Lounge.
The parcel in question is near the northwest corner of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Northside Drive, about a mile from The Benz via the new Westside BeltLine Connector. Plans call for building out the property with an expansive bar, restaurants, lounging and seating spaces, plus a courtyard with shuffleboard and other yard games. A screen and stage will host small concerts and other events.
Lincoln announced this week its hired three industry veterans—George Banks (consulting firm Revel’s founder, who worked on Krog Street Market); Elizabeth Feichter (cofounder of Atlanta Food & Wine Festival); and Kelly Campbell (an experiential and live entertainment industry veteran for two decades)—to pull together a tenant mix at Westside Motor Lounge. Together they’ve formed a new venture called STHRN Hospitality Co.
“The old automotive buildings [at Westside Motor Lounge] are full of character, and we’re excited to be able to activate in this unique, historic area,” said Campbell in a prepared statement. “We’re being intentional about the culinary and entertainment talent we work with so that this space truly taps into the culture of Atlanta’s Westside, blending the history and character of Bankhead Highway with the vibrancy and creativity of the Westside.”
STHRN Hospitality Co. plans to introduce a model where employees will have the opportunity to earn ownership stakes in the businesses at Westside Motor Lounge. The venue will join the recently opened events space Guardian Works and artist hub Guardian Studios, located at the opposite end of the English Avenue site, which had been largely vacant for decades. (See a photo tour here of the full Echo Street West property and plans, as compiled earlier this month.)
Westside Motor Lounge will offer "the community funky, eclectic, and inspiring places to gather and spend time together,” said Tony Bartlett, Lincoln’s executive vice president. “[That’s] something we think Atlanta will be craving more of coming out of the past 18 months of quarantining and careful distancing from one another.”
In June, Lincoln broke ground on the mixed-use village’s $265-million first phase, in hopes of capturing momentum and investment dollars similar to what’s happened along the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.
Designed by the ASD/SKY firm, with interiors by Bunker Design, the Westside Motor Lounge is on pace to open in early 2022, officials said. Find more context and a preview of what’s to come in the above gallery.
• Photo tour: How Echo Street West aims to bridge English Avenue's past, future (Urbanize Atlanta)
