Since its move to 1727 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in June, Collard Green Café has been cooking up new business! The soul food and seafood restaurant outgrew its 1,500 SF location at 1880 Mountain Industrial Boulevard and moved into the 3,700 SF former Hardee’s building next to Stars and Strikes this summer.

Owner James Paige reports that the support from the community has been extraordinary and he is eternally grateful. Business has been doing so well that they increased their staff by eight additional employees bringing the total to 23.

It’s incredible to see another business in our district growing and thriving!

Our most philanthropic member, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) has been working furiously the past couple of weeks since Hurricane Helene made landfall and devastated much of the southeast region. They continue their relationship with FEMA and have deployed home medical supplies to evacuees with mobility needs in south Georgia and South Carolina and has provided more than $250,000 worth of medical equipment.

The organization continues its efforts to mobilize aid and supplies to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Milton. To contribute to FODAC’s efforts, please visit their website to make a donation.

Due to the inclement weather from Hurricane Helene, the annual FODAC Golf Classic charity event was postponed to Friday, November 1, at Smoke Rise Country Club. To register for the event or to become a sponsor, please visit FODAC’s event page.

With a new negotiated contract, the dockworker’s union strike was suspended until January 15. Initially, the U.S. Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) failed to reach a deal by the October 1 night deadline, however the ports reached a tentative agreement on wage increases ending the strike on Thursday, October 3.

The walkout would have raised the risk of supply shortages, which would have greatly affected our district businesses. While experts state for every day of a port strike, it takes four to six days to recover, a short strike of a few days is not expected to have as massive of an effect on the district’s supply chain.

Logistics and district truck drivers are critical to our district businesses, and the Georgia Ports Authority celebrated truck drivers the week of September 16 during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. With our district comprised of many manufacturers, distribution centers, retailers and consumers of clothing, food and supplies, trucks are imperative to our members’ success, and here at TSCID we appreciate the truck drivers and their skills to get the job done.

Our proximity to the majority of Atlanta’s thoroughfares makes our district the ideal location to conduct business.

Decide DeKalb is proud to support the career development of young students who are the next generation of our workforce. Gen Z has been dubbed the “toolbelt generation” who embrace technology and sustainable innovations within manufacturing.

Recently Decide DeKalb invited future employees to our various district companies to introduce them to illustrious careers in manufacturing.

Watch the “Made in DeKalb video below.

Commissioner Robert Patrick will be introducing crime and blight legislation to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners that will benefit our district. The Commissioner’s goal is to target blight across the DeKalb County with The Blight Tax Ordinance, which would allow for an increase in the mill rate for properties that have fallen into disrepair. The additional tax would allow the County to recuperate the costs of maintaining and servicing these blighted properties.

The Closure of Chronic Nuisance Properties amendment proposal would authorize the municipal court to order the abatement of commercial properties where violent conduct or crime is occurring.

The Homeless Arrest Diversion Ordinances seek to address the growing crises of the unhoused population in DeKalb County. The Commissioner proposes that the DeKalb County Police Department develop a diversion policy for unhoused individuals and provide alternative options to arrest and imprisonment.

These proposals will greatly improve DeKalb County and have ultimately have a positive economic impact on our district.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, and 2024 is a big election year!

Get information on early voting, polling locations and download your sample ballot from the DeKalb County voter website. Your voice matters, please be sure to vote!

Tucker Summit CID Board Member and OnPace Partners Industrial Real Estate Broker Stephen Bridges offers insight into the current state of the commercial real estate market in our district and surrounding areas.

The vacancy rate in the Tucker/Stone Mountain Submarket has remained low at 4.4%, which is below the pre-pandemic rates and the marketwide average of 7.4%. This is due to the sustained demand for infill industrial sites near Atlanta’s urban core and the limited supply additions. However, the year-over-year rent growth of 6.0% has fallen below the submarket’s 10-year average of about 7.5%.

Industrial deals totaling about $98.6 million closed in the past 12 months — a decrease from $122 million in 2022. These transactions closed at an average of approximately 16% below the asking price, compared to about 5% in 2022. Notably, all sales over the past year were for less than $10 million, with the majority involving older, smaller assets, as big-box asset sales are infrequent.

Some industrial spaces in the submarket are being repurposed for other uses. For instance, in February, The Faith Center acquired a 143,000 SF warehouse from Ricoh Americas Corporation for $9.25 million or $65/SF, with plans to renovate the property for use as a church.

Despite elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty, infill properties have remained attractive to investors. In May 2023, Dallas-based ATCAP Partners purchased a four-property portfolio from San Francisco-based private equity firm TPG and Atlanta-based Dogwood Industrial Properties for $44 million or $317/SF. In July 2023, Minnesota-based Onward Investors acquired a seven-property portfolio of infill, smaller-bay properties in Atlanta, including the 1974-built Stone Mountain Business Park, for $39.5 million at a 5.45% cap rate.

Tucker Summit CID has a new specialty ice cream and boba tea shop that’s rocking the district. Located at 1880 Mountain Industrial Boulevard, Roll O Coaster provides taste tingling artisan rolled ice cream, refreshing boba tea, creamy milkshakes, fresh juices and more.

Be sure to stop in and support another incredible district business.

TSCID’s new right-of-way landscape and maintenance vendor, Southern Care Lawn & Landscape has been doing a marvelous job maintaining our corridors since their contract started last month.

We entrust our district to Southern Care Lawn & Landscape and encourage our members to reach out to them to do the same. A well-maintained district is one of the keys to a thriving, growing district!

We are so fortunate to have successful and prospering businesses in our district, many of whom have been located here for decades, like Joe Burton Company! Joe Burton Company has been in the district since 1973, offering specialty construction products to contractors for more than 50 years!

Let us know if you are a longstanding business owner so we can celebrate you and your company’s success as well! Please take this quick survey to highlight your business.

Make sure your planned signage and architectural structures are within regulations! Review the Tucker Overlay District Regulations on our website.