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Tech Village founders fit Friedman’s Shoes into 53-piece portfolio
Jon Birdsong, David Cummings preserving retailer’s South Downtown history in plans to redevelop 10-block area
A photo illustration of Atlanta Ventures’ David Cummings and Jon Birdsong along with 209 Mitchell Street Southwest in Atlanta (Getty, Google Maps, Atlanta Ventures)
The venture capitalists who redeveloped a patch of upscale Bucktown into the Atlanta Tech Village have gone back to basics for their next project, in South Downtown.
Jon Birdsong and David Cummings — tech investors who teamed with real estate veteran David Lightburn on the Buckhead project in 2012 — acquired the decades-old, family-owned Friedman’s Shoes building, at 209 Mitchell Street Southwest on Hotel Row, for an undisclosed price, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported.
The 37,000-square-foot building housing Friedman’s — open since 1929 and known these days for exotic styles and celebrity customers — joins a 53-building South Downtown portfolio that Birdsong and Cummings acquired from Newport. The Berlin, Germany-based seller faced foreclosure on the portfolio after eight years of working to revive the 10-block area the buildings make up.
Birdsong and Cummings aim to realize a similar vision, with a plan that calls for retail, residential and office development. They’ve yet to decide how to use the Friedman’s building at Mitchell and Forsyth streets, but said they are anxious to keep its historic brand and celebrity clientele in the South Downtown mix.
“Their story is representative of the entrepreneurial story of South Downtown,” Birdsong said. “For them to pass the torch to the building is one thing, but for them to continue to be in the neighborhood is even more special.”
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Birdsong and Cummings impressed Brett Friedman, a member of the family who has branched off from retail and into real estate, the outlet reported.
“[T]he corner is a big piece, and we get it,” Brett said, adding that his family has bought into the vision that will retain their family store in the district.
“They want us to be there, so they’re going above and beyond what I believe anybody else would do to keep us there,” he said.
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