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East Lake’s ‘Hosea + 2nd’ project has true mixed-use ambitions

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Expect more than just eateries at this formerly neglected intersection

An East Lake intersection that suffered for years from disinvestment and broken redevelopment dreams has ambitions of becoming a full-blown foodie destination and mixed-use village.

Developers behind Hosea + 2nd recently unveiled that celebrated One Eared Stag chef Robert Phalen is opening a restaurant called Mary Hoopa’s House of Fried Chicken & Oysters — possibly in January — that will complete a roster of four eateries in the project’s initial phase. Others include The Greater Good Barbecue (recently opened in a former service station on the site’s northwest corner), Poor Hendrix, and a second location of Grant Park’s Mix’d Up Burgers.

Now, Jay Martin of ReDevStudio, a partner in Hosea + 2nd, has shared with Eater Atlanta that plans for remaining property on this eastern flank of East Lake will be more diversified than restaurants alone.

Eater reports the venture’s second phase (located on the same side of Hosea Williams Drive as the barbecue joint, but across the street) is planned to sprout a full-scale mixed-use development by the second half of 2017.

Developers are planning retail, office space, "residential units," a coffee shop, and at least one more restaurant for the intersection’s northeast corner. (See below illustration).

A mission statement on Hosea + 2nd’s website gives an indication where the development team is headed — and what they’ve managed to do with existing structures thus far:

"We believe in supporting local businesses. We care about good, thoughtful design. We also have more fun fixing up old buildings than tearing them down."

Of the four initial sites, the last to be developed will be the southwest quadrant, where the Cousins Family Foundation plans to build offices and boutique retail, according to marketing materials. Word on the street is that this site housed a rather nefarious gas station many years ago, and that removal of some remaining infrastructure from that use will be costly.

The Cousins Family Foundation, an organization that's been working to revitalize East Lake since 1993, purchased the Hosea + 2nd land in 2005 and sold it last year to Clay Harper and Mike Nelson — owners of local favorites Fellini's Pizza and La Fonda Latina — along with partners Nathan Bolster and Jay Martin.