Piedmont and North Avenues, North East
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta's RIO CENTER was built on a 7-acre plot. This was located 1.5 miles northeast of the Georgia State House, at the northwestern edge of the city's Old North Ward district. Developed by a joint venture of Atlanta's Charles Ackerman & Company, Park Central Communities and the City of Atlanta, the community-sized complex was designed by Arquitectonica, of Coral Gables, Florida. Landscaping was done by San Francisco's Martha Schwartz.
The open-air center encompassed approximately 250,000 leasable square feet and consisted of 2 levels of retail, surrounding a large, partially-covered Center Court and Water Basin. Placed at regular intervals in the Basin were most of the mall's 350 gold frogs. These faced a 40-foot-high geodesic dome structure, made of white metal tubing, which doubled as a mist fountain.
A square island area on the opposite end of the Court included bamboo planters and the Rio Videowall. Created by New York City's Dara Birnbaum, it consisted of twenty-five TV screens, arranged in a 5 x 5 fashion. A motion detector mechanism, activated by shoppers, would blend video images of the original -undeveloped- mall site with content from Atlanta's CNN (Cable News Network) and feeds from several security cameras located throughout the complex.
Before the mall was completed, Birnbaum and Ackerman & Company had a major disagreement. The developer wanted to include commercial advertisements with Videowall imagery, an idea that was opposed by Ms. Birnbaum. The issue was eventually settled...there would be no ads.
The first stores in RIO CENTER were open for business by November 1988, A official dedication was held on April 29, 1989. Original tenants included Benetton, Camp Beverly Hills, High Country Outfitters, Coyote Cafe and The Crab House.
Described as kitsch and quirky, "Rio Mall" was bequeathed several prestigious awards. These included the Atlanta Urban Design Commission's "Award of Excellence in Architecture." Atlanta Magazine's "Best Architectural Statement" and the American Society of Landscape Architects "Merit Award."
Nevertheless, RIO CENTER failed to catch on with the buying public. It was controversial from the start. At its peak, the complex housed forty-five store and services, but was never be fully-leased. In June 1991, there were twenty-one operational tenants. By October of the same year, this number had dwindled to eleven.
The King Theatres syndicate planned on installing a movie multiplex in an Upper Level store block. This plan fell through in late 1992. In January 1993, the First National Bank of Boston foreclosed on the property. In June 1993, it was purchased by Atlanta architect Walter R. Davis, under the auspices of the Rio Land Investment Company.
A new direction was taken in an attempt to remarket the mall as an upscale arts, crafts and cultural center. New tenants were signed, such as the 3rd Act Melody Room & Musical Revue, Peking Dragon II restaurant, Ragg Top Salon, Urban Art Gallery, Atlanta Bread Company, I Love Juicy and Moovies Outlet Video Rental. The Chris Tucker Comedy Cafe opened for business on October 1, 1998.
Alas, the revitalization eventually lost momentum. In October 1999, a virtually vacant complex was sold to a consortium of the Saint Petersburg, Florida-based Sembler Company and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company. Remaining tenants were given eviction notices, effective March 1, 2000. RIO CENTER was unceremoniously demolished in June and July of the same year.
The failed urban shopping center was replaced by PUBLIX AT PIEDMONT, a (52,400 square foot) strip complex. Built on 3.5 acres of the RIO CENTER site, it was anchored by a (27,800 square foot) Publix minimarket.
PUBLIX AT PIEDMONT also housed a (15,100 square foot) Walgreen Drug and 9,400 square feet of inline store space. The new Publix store was dedicated on June 7, 2001. The remainder of the site was redeveloped as the Savannah Midtown Apartments, a 351-unit residential complex.
Sources:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.med.emory.edu/CME/partic/shopping.html / Shopping In Atlanta
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/experimental.htm
http://www.marthaschwartz.com/projects/rio_details.html
http://www.sembler.com
http://www.mail-archive.com
https://returntoatl.blogspot.com
A new direction was taken in an attempt to remarket the mall as an upscale arts, crafts and cultural center. New tenants were signed, such as the 3rd Act Melody Room & Musical Revue, Peking Dragon II restaurant, Ragg Top Salon, Urban Art Gallery, Atlanta Bread Company, I Love Juicy and Moovies Outlet Video Rental. The Chris Tucker Comedy Cafe opened for business on October 1, 1998.
Alas, the revitalization eventually lost momentum. In October 1999, a virtually vacant complex was sold to a consortium of the Saint Petersburg, Florida-based Sembler Company and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company. Remaining tenants were given eviction notices, effective March 1, 2000. RIO CENTER was unceremoniously demolished in June and July of the same year.
The failed urban shopping center was replaced by PUBLIX AT PIEDMONT, a (52,400 square foot) strip complex. Built on 3.5 acres of the RIO CENTER site, it was anchored by a (27,800 square foot) Publix minimarket.
PUBLIX AT PIEDMONT also housed a (15,100 square foot) Walgreen Drug and 9,400 square feet of inline store space. The new Publix store was dedicated on June 7, 2001. The remainder of the site was redeveloped as the Savannah Midtown Apartments, a 351-unit residential complex.
Sources:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.med.emory.edu/CME/partic/shopping.html / Shopping In Atlanta
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/experimental.htm
http://www.marthaschwartz.com/projects/rio_details.html
http://www.sembler.com
http://www.mail-archive.com
https://returntoatl.blogspot.com
