In April, a company called CrowdVested announced it was hoping to crowdsource $250,000 of the approximately $3.5 million needed for Paces Properties to purchase, clean up and lease a key strip in East Atlanta Village. That portion of fundraising ended earlier this week, and, according to CrowdVested CEO Grady Thrasher, those efforts netted $152,600 from 27 investors. That's only about 61 percent of the goal, but Thrasher said the project — focusing primarily on several vacant storefronts in the Glenwood Avenue strip that's home to The Glenwood and My Sister's Place — is definitely moving forward. And quickly.
Interior demolition at the spaces in question is scheduled to begin as soon as today, and Thrasher said renovations should take place "over the next three or four months." Judging by the newly acquired renderings above, the exteriors won't be anything crazy but should offer a clean slate and a marked (though perhaps character-less?) improvement over the current situation. Paces is hoping that every renovated space will be filled up by the end of the year. Thrasher said the project is ultimately seeking "high-quality tenants who are able to run businesses properly" — namely bars and restaurants, and maybe some small office spaces for rear-facing storefronts.
The crowdsourcing aspect was an interesting experiment, but the real question is if this strip can be (or should be) rescued by a big-name developer like Paces. What say you, EAV dwellers?
— By Curbed Atlanta contributor Tyler Estep
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