"'Historic Westside Village"' is a mixed-use development in Vine City, Atlanta including a Walmart, other retail stores, and apartment complexes.
History In 1999, the Atlanta Housing Authority first announced plans for the "Historic Westside Village", a $130 million commercial, residential and retail project at the area's southern end near Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. at Ashby St."Westside due a $130 million redo", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 16, 1999
Publix failure A Publix supermarket opened in May 2002"A DREAM FULFILLED: Intown Publix to open", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 30, 2002 but the overall project stalled by 2003 as further anchor tenants did not materialize. This, along with disappointing sales, caused the Publix - the only full-sized supermarket for miles around - to close in December 2009."Historic Westside Village Publix To Close, Residents Not Happy", MAJIC radio station site, December 2009 Creative Loafing called the project the most notorious "municipal boondoggle...to have tarred Atlanta" during mayor Bill Campbell's era; the project "fell victim to...cronyism, bureaucratic incompetence and a flagrant disregard for federal lending guidelines".Scott Henry, "Westside Do-over", Creative Loafing, April 26, 2006
Walmart success In December 2010 things looked up as the Atlanta Development Authority announced plans for Wal-Mart to open a store on the site, which Mayor Kasim Reed called "an end to the food desert in the area". In January 2013 the Wal-Mart opened for business."Vine City/AUC Walmart Grand Opening on Wednesday 1/23: Walmart has said they are ready to open to the public", Marc Richardson, Cascade Patch, January 21, 2013
"Legends of Historic Westside Village" In 2015, "Legends of Historic Westside Village" exhibit was unveiled, "a series of photos of community activists, businesses, and educational institutions that impacted the neighborhood" including Mayor Maynard Holbrook Jackson, former Judge Austin Thomas Walden, Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes, Sr., and educator W.E.B Du Bois.
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