As intown corner lots go, it might not be the so-called beachfront property you’ll find along the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, but it could be close.

And exactly what will become of it remains to be seen.

Atlanta development wonks went bananas last month when a crumbling, 2,482-square-foot commercial building from 1945 was razed at 142 Whitefoord Ave., having been vacant for more than a decade with a collapsed roof and trees growing inside.

Not a big deal, except that this particular .26-acre lot enjoys a front-row seat along the Eastside Trolley Trail—the popular BeltLine-to-Kirkwood connector trail installed by the PATH Foundation last year—and is part of a budding commercial hub for Edgewood.

Rumors abounded about a possible breakfast concept being built at the corner, which is the northeast corner of Whitefoord Avenue’s intersection with Arkwright Place, across the street from wildly popular taqueria El Tesoro.

 

But the property’s new owner, Sara Thurston, a real estate agent and sales consultant by day, did not confirm that. Reached by email, Thurston offered to answer questions, and responded to them with a single sentence, “I’m still solidifying my plan,” and an offer to provide more details when they’re ready.  

Which means it’s time to get hypothetical and wonder what should go there.

The 1/4-acre site at 142 Whitefoord Ave., following demolition last month in Edgewood. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Brief history: The vacant 142 Whitefoord Ave. property came up for sale two years ago and quickly went under contract (at least to an initial potential buyer). According to a previous LoopNet listing, the building was part of a corner lot (11,400 square feet) with dedicated parking at the back. It neighbors a separate building occupied by the Viking Motorcycle Club.

Longtime neighborhood residents say the building housed a dry cleaners years ago. We’re told that most buildings in the immediate area are within a Sugar Creek floodplain that’s hasn’t been an issue in recent years. Parking in the area, however, has been a sticking point, following El Tesoro’s rise as an eastside destination.

Next to El Tesoro, to the north, a former 1950s auto garage will become a local pizzeria and neighborhood market with patio seating in front and some parking in the rear, as the building and business owner, Sid Weinstein, told Urbanize Atlanta this month. Weinstein hopes to open the businesses by late summer or early fall, operating them seven days a week.

The site's proximity to a building that will house a pizzeria and market (at left) across the street, per ownership. A longstanding motorcycle club occupies the building next door. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The 142 Whitefoord Ave. site's location at an Edgewood intersection with commercial uses and low-rise apartments. Google Maps

Zooming out, retail and restaurant options in recent years have cropped in other Edgewood places that had no commercial activity before. That includes neighborhood wine shop Vin ATL and sandwich emporium and cocktail bar Bona Fide Deluxe, which have both taken root in the mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment of Edgewood’s MARTA station parking lots. Just east of there, a massive, 662-home venture by national developer Toll Brothers will also include a retail component.

Meanwhile, two blocks due south of El Tesoro, former butcher and sandwich spot Chop Shop is being converted into a concept by local chef and restaurateur Hudson Rouse called Pure Quill Superette. Rouse, who owns Rising Son in Avondale Estates and Whoopsie’s in Reynoldstown, described the Memorial Drive destination to the AJC in February as “the best of the coolest country stores and bodegas and Italian delis I’ve been to” with a lunch counter, beer and wine sales, and a bar for socializing.

So, given that context, what do you, dear readers, hope to see become of the 142 Whitefoord Ave. corner?

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