Westside's cherished 'the Yellow Store' set for mixed-use rehab

New life is on the horizon for a century-old structure that served as a communal hub for decades during English Avenue’s heyday.

Colloquially known as “the Yellow Store,” the two-story Westside structure at 500 James P. Brawley Drive will be preserved and renovated in a way that echoes its original uses, with “neighborhood retail” at street level and residences above, according to project leaders with Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm.

The Invest Atlanta Board of Directors recently approved a $750,000 Westside Tax Allocation District grant for the English Avenue project as part of a round of funding for initiatives that aim to lift up lower-income neighborhoods.

The front of the brick structure, facing east toward downtown. Westside Future Fund

The building's 500 James P Brawley Drive location in English Avenue. Google Maps

Additions to the building will include an outdoor canopy behind it where seating will be placed for a local food service tenant. No timeline for construction was included in the project announcement.

Five years ago, local nonprofit Westside Future Fund purchased the building for $600,000 from longtime family owners to eventually redevelop it into a communal gathering place with housing.

According to Saporta Report, the corner building had housed a soda shop and ice cream parlor, a shoe store, a grocery, and a record store downstairs, with four apartments above. Its renovation was pinpointed as a top neighborhood priority in the Westside Land Use Framework Plan.

Inside a typical upstairs unit today. Westside Future Fund

Westside Future Fund

According to Westside Future Fund, the two-story building appears in the 1911 Sanborn Map for that section of Atlanta, and its size of 6,000 square feet listed on the original permit remains unchanged. It was built of blonde multi-wythe brick masonry, per the organization.

Today, the location is about four blocks west of the Westside Beltline Connector trail that links downtown Atlanta to the mainline Beltline loop.

Current state of commercial spaces. Westside Future Fund