EAST POINT, Ga. — Take a trip to downtown East Point, and it might feel like taking a trip back in time. Henry Adeleye's decided to set up shop in East Point seven years ago to grow his family and cupcake business, Kupcakerie.
"We were looking for a place that was up and coming, because we didn't have a lot of capital to open in Midtown or Buckhead," Adeleye said. “It’s right down the street from the downtown area of Atlanta, adjacent to MARTA, and there’s just a lot of land, a lot of opportunity for development. I think it’s a prime candidate for a development like this.”
Just across the street from Adeleye's business, a patch of grass and gravel will soon give way to a $150 million development. East Point City Council voted to build East Point Commons in 2021. Two years later, minority-owned Mynd Match Development Group will prepare to break ground on the project Dec. 29. On Friday, the city finalized a purchase and sale agreement for the land to be developed.
Excell Lewis III, president of Mynd Match, said he visited East Point while working on another project. He submitted a request for proposal, did his research and fell in love with the opportunity to develop the area southwest of Atlanta.
"There’s so much opportunity here with Hartsfield Jackson just about seven miles down the road, Tyler Perry Studios in the opposite direction," Lewis said. “In terms of the development, we’re going to create more than 1,500 jobs as a product just throughout the construction phase and on.”
The first phase of the development will include a health clinic, retail and restaurant space. Nearly 200 apartments and a parking garage will also be installed in phase one. Phase two calls for a mainstream grocery store, nearly 200 more apartments and another parking garage. The apartments will be a mix of market rate and affordable options, according to Lewis. Phase three will include 24 townhomes for sale.
The project will be constructed in partnership with 30 companies that are mostly minority-owned and local to the Atlanta area. City Councilman Joshua Butler grew up in East Point and said this development would revitalize the city and the region.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have contiguous acreage in your downtown area where you get to shape the look, culture and feel," Butler said. "No other city really has that opportunity. So it’s lifetime transformation that’s about to go down here in East Point. We’re in the year 2023. It’s time for something new, vibrant, fresh that we can attract young people back to the city of East Point and expand what we want to do in other areas of the city.”
The project is expected to bring millions of dollars in economic impact. Lewis said each phase will take about 18 months to complete.