Part of Ponce de Leon Avenue in Virginia-Highland is about to get a major makeover now that Selig Enterprises’ proposed development is making its way through the City of Atlanta’s approval process.
Selig announced in February its plan to redevelop 1.75 acres directly across from Hotel Clermont. The block sits between Bonaventure Avenue and Ponce de Leon, most of which has been owned by the commercial real estate giant for 60 years.
Nearly 40 years after its opening in 1988, Atlanta Chinatown and its food court and restaurants are getting a glow-up. The courtyard garden received a refresh, interior walls now include murals by local artists, and new businesses are opening at the retail and restaurant complex in Chamblee.
While improvements to anchor businesses like Oriental Pearl Seafood Restaurant and Dinho Market were already in the works, property manager Vasti Pichardo said a broader revitalization of Atlanta Chinatown kicked off about 18 months ago. The sweeping project is meant to address aging infrastructure and the need to keep Atlanta Chinatown a relevant, multi-generational gathering space for the community.
A location of Buckhead restaurant institution Hal’s “The Steakhouse” will open at Spring Quarter in Midtown, with another location planned for downtown Roswell. Both of the new Hal’s locations will open next spring.
In Midtown, Hal’s will take over the Patterson House space, formerly home to the H.M. Patterson & Son Spring Hill Chapel funeral home on Spring Street.
Spring Quarter developer Portman Holdings previously announced that restaurateur Steve Palmer of Indigo Road Hospitality would bring a “morning-to-night [food and beverage] destination” to the nearly century-old H.M. Patterson building. That restaurant never materialized.
The City of Dunwoody has prevailed in a long-running open records lawsuit filed by resident Joe Hirsch, and Hirsch has been ordered to pay $182,000 in attorneys’ fees incurred by the city.
Hirsch, who identified himself in the 226-page lawsuit as a journalist on X, named three city employees in his Oct. 31, 2023 suit – Dunwoody City Clerk Sharon Lowery, Clerk Eric Shealy, and Information Technology Department Head Ginger LePage. He also named the city as a defendant.
Millions of people crowded cloudless cities and towns in Spain on Wednesday in search of the best views of a total solar eclipse, when the alignment of the sun, moon, and Earth briefly plunged parts of the planet into darkness.
