Westside Motor Lounge Will Open Next Year at Echo Street West
The lounge will be operated by a newly-formed, employee-owned hospitality group involving the co-founder of the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival.
Westside Motor Lounge will open in early 2022 at Echo Street West, the lounge’s new operating firm STHRN Hospitality Co. has announced. STHRN is a joint venture between George Banks of Revel, a retail consultancy, and experience management agency Southern Culinary & Creative‘s co-founders Elizabeth Feichter and Kelly Campbell. Under the new firm, the partners will work closely with Echo Street West developer Lincoln Property Company to build out the new venue.
“Lincoln Property Company came to us with this unique opportunity to not only make an engaging, creative new place but also a chance to redefine how bars and restaurants are owned and run,” Campbell said in a statement. “We are being intentional about the culinary and entertainment talent we work with so that this space truly taps into the culture of Atlanta’s Westside, blending the history and character of Bankhead Highway with the vibrancy and creativity of the Westside.”
With the help of STHRN, Lincoln is restoring the three defunct automotive buildings at the Echo Street West site to to build a large indoor-outdoor bar, the centerpiece of which will be an expansive courtyard with shuffleboard, games and a stage and screen for live events. Its proximity to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will make the lounge an ideal location for tailgating, its development and creative teams anticipate.
For Westside Motor Lounge — and the firm’s future endeavors — STHRN aims to reduce friction between the tenants and landlords of the places it creates by partnering with the property developer. It also plans to elevate the standard for restaurant employee working conditions by granting “established” employees ownership stakes in the business.
“There have been a thousand stories about toxic restaurant work environments, often driven by difficult employers, overworked staff and strained relationships,” Banks said in a statement. “We think our model turns all of this on its head: established employees will have the opportunity to effectively be the boss.”
By Helen Floersh
Published on August 30th, 2021
Whatnow Atlanta