The old streets around Stone Mountain Village are set to smell like roasting coffee soon.

The Stone Mountain Downtown Development Authority sends word that its latest renovation project, the Old Post Office building off Main Street, has been sold to popular intown coffeehouse Java Vino for a second location.  

The Stone Mountain City Council recently approved a special-use permit allowing Java Vino to operate a roastery in the village, which has experienced a retail comeback after struggling with vacancies for years next door to Georgia’s most popular tourist attraction.

Located at 5379 E. Mountain Street, the 5,000-square-foot former post office marks the third property the SMDDA has redeveloped and sold in the area. Finding the right tenant was a fraught process riddled with “many pandemic-caused setbacks” the past couple of years, city officials said in a recent announcement.

Built in 1960, the post office building occupies 1/3rd of an acre about a block off Main Street, toward Stone Mountain Park, according to LoopNet.

The Old Post Office property in 2019. Google Maps

The former post office's modernized exterior today. Stone Mountain Downtown Development Authority

The property has been for sale for several years and was boarded up during an SMDDA-led renovation that began in 2018, fixing the roof, white-boxing the interior, and creating three ADA-accessible bathrooms.

Java Vino has operated from its location fronting North Highland Avenue in Poncey-Highland for about 18 years.

The building's white-boxed interior that's been seeking a tenant for years. Stone Mountain Downtown Development Authority

Exterior rending of the renovated 1960 post office structure off Main Street. Stone Mountain Downtown Development Authority/Coldwell Banker

The coffee shop and wine bar’s new building is situated diagonal from another newer attraction in the village, Outrun Brewing Company, which converted an old gas station property in 2020 into a large patio and brewery that pays homage to 1980s pop culture and glam.

Other newer village businesses in surrounding blocks include Cherokee Rose BBQ Bar and Kitchen, Sha'vie Wine Collections, Gilly Brew Bar, and Stoned Pizza Kitchen, alongside longstanding tenants such as Sweet Potato Café, the Public House cigar and piano bistro, and The Village Corner, a German restaurant.  

SMDDA officials tell Urbanize Atlanta that Java Vino expects to open its Stone Mountain roastery and coffeehouse in the first quarter of 2023.

• Stone Mountain news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)