Justin Amick knew immediately the massive warehouse at 279 Ottley Drive was the perfect spot for his company’s new “compeatery” venture, The Painted Pickle, slated to open in January.
The site is located in what is known as the Armour-Ottley Loop, an industrial, office and retail pocket in southern Buckhead along Interstate 85 and active Norfolk Southern railroad tracks and MARTA tracks. Investors for years have been attracted to the area for its adaptive reuse of the industrial and warehouse buildings into office and creative use spaces.
Now they are eyeing what the future could be when the Atlanta BeltLine extends to the area and the promise of a new entertainment and hospitality district.
“When I saw that the warehouse was the first building on the left on Ottley Drive and then figured out that that’s where the BeltLine was going to connect in a couple years, it was it was a no brainer,” Amick said of picking the site.
Amick is president and CEO of Painted Hospitality, the company he owns with William Stallworth. They operate the Painted Pin in Buckhead and Painted Duck in West Midtown. Known as “eatertainment” venues, the businesses offer patrons a place to compete in a variety of games while sipping on signature cocktails and noshing on wood fired pizzas or pulled pork sliders.
Amick and Stallworth started playing pickleball, one of the fastest-growing sports in America, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amick said he and Stallworth noticed pickleball had what they called “that social X factor,” a game that could be played with drinks before, during, or after a game.
“And that goes hand-in-hand with social gathering spots and other forms of entertainment and social amenities,” he said. It was this experience that inspired them to develop and open the Painted Pickle.
“To me, pickleball is not just a sport itself,” Amick said. “It’s a lifestyle and we definitely want to curate that lifestyle for the city of Atlanta.”
The Armour-Ottley Loop has mostly been an industrial neighborhood, but is rapidly attracting more food and beverage businesses, such as Atlanta Spirit and Capella Cheese, Amick said.
Sweetwater Brewing Company, East Pole Coffee, Fox Bro.’s Bar-B-Que, the Atlanta Track Club and Indie Studios are just some of the businesses housed in the area where a segment of the Atlanta Beltline is planned to be built over the next few years.
A recent $25 million federal grant will boost construction of the Beltline and connector trails including Peachtree Creek and PATH 400 trails in the Armour-Ottley business district and residential areas between Midtown and Buckhead. The funding will also go toward the BeltLine’s first connection to MARTA at Lindbergh Center.
The industrial warehouse at 279 Ottley Drive provides the nearly 33,000 square feet needed for the Painted Pickle’s eight indoor courts and an outdoor court. There is also plenty of room for a restaurant, bar and stage for live entertainment.
“The beauty of the Painted Pickled space is it has great indoor and outdoor space and is located directly on the future connection point of the Atlanta BeltLine,” Amick said.
“Atlanta obviously doesn’t have a body of water; we don’t have a beach,” he said. “The Beltline is like our boardwalk that goes behind our space and connects all of these intown neighborhoods throughout the city.”
David Minnix was an early investor in the Armour-Ottley Loop more than a decade ago. He founded Indie Studios at 190 Ottley Drive, which was developed by Gene Kansas. He co-founded CineMassive at 150 Ottley Drive, which was recently acquired by Haivision Systems Inc. He also owns the property where Open Hand Atlanta is located at 181 Armour Drive.
“I’ve been there for the whole transformation of the neighborhood over the last 12 years and it’s gone from almost exclusively industrial users to what I would say now it’s primarily office users,” he said.
The transformation of the Armour-Ottley Loop from mostly industrial use to a variety of uses makes sense, Minnix said, because of its central location between Buckhead and Midtown and access to I-85. The coming of the BeltLine is also increasing more development.
“It was a cool undiscovered space and I really enjoyed that period, but it inevitable that people would come along and want to develop it,” he said.
The Armour-Ottley Loop becoming a small entertainment and hospitality district is probably the best and highest use of the land, Minnix said, and will be a “net positive for everybody.”
“This little piece of Atlanta is great because it’s both historic and modern at the same time, and you just don’t get that in a lot of other places in Atlanta,” Minnix said.
“It’s just it’s just this special little cove in Atlanta and I’m excited to see the BeltLine come to the area,” he said.