Key Points:
• Sandy Springs approved leasing the Williams-Payne House to open a Summit Coffee shop.
• An initial 10-year lease will bring $528,066 in rental payments to the city.
A coffee shop will open in the Williams-Payne House next summer through a lease approved on Oct. 21 by Sandy Springs.
Economic Development Director Chris Burnett told the Sandy Springs City Council that Summit Coffee will operate as a food, beverage, and events facility. During its 10-year lease, the business will pay the city $528,066, with options for two five-year extensions.
The restored 1869 two-story farmhouse, formerly home to the Heritage Sandy Springs Museum, has been vacant since the onset of COVID. The property is adjacent to the Heritage Sandy Springs Amphitheatre and event lawn.
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Summit Coffee plans to operate from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days per week. It will sell traditional and specialty coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, alcoholic beverages, and ice cream by Summit Creamery, its outdoor ice cream shop.
The Shopping Center Group represented the city to market the property and helped identify potential tenants. Burnett said the city will not provide any tenant finish funding, which reduced the number of potential tenants.
Burnett said the business has ties to Sandy Springs as its general manager, Adam Scott, and his partner, Michael Anna, are city residents.
Renovation of the building is expected to take six months with a target opening date around June 1, 2026.
Burnett said staff proposed giving Summit a 12-month rental abatement, as no retail establishment is located in that area of Sandy Springs Circle. Also, extensive construction will be ongoing across the street with the Hillcrest mixed-use development, which could create traffic and parking challenges.
Staff have talked with Scott about the importance of the ties that local organizations, such as garden clubs and the Sandy Springs Society, have with the Williams-Payne House. Heritage Sandy Springs operated a museum in the house, but the organization disbanded in 2021 after 35 years.
Burnett said if the city has any events or groups have received permits to use the green space behind the house, then Summit Coffee would need to be respectful and not have events there.
“But if the park is not being used, they could come to the city like any group would, and request to have us issue a use permit for them to use that. And we’ve talked about, for example, having a guitar player on the gazebo and having chairs set up there in the green space, and they would manage that process,” Burnett said.
The city will provide basic landscape services. Summit will handle any heavy plantings or work with the North Fulton Master Gardeners, which currently does the plantings at the house.
Summit Coffee, which was founded in 1988, operates 21 cafés across the Southeast. It began its small-batch roasting, sustainability practices, and community-oriented approach at its flagship location in Davidson, North Carolina. Summit Coffee offers live music, maker markets, wine tastings, and community workshops.
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