The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
City Springs looking to fitness places, dining
Sandy Springs’ new downtown development, which is scheduled to begin to open in the coming weeks, has three businesses focused on fitness and four restaurants. Those businesses will join an arts center and Sandy Springs’ new city hall near the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Mount Vernon Highway. “This is an exciting day for us,” Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said Wednesday, before the names of the restaurants and other businesses were announced. First, the restaurants: ■ Cafe Vendo me — a French restaurant that serves sandwiches, quiche, coffee and pastries — will open its second location in the city. ■ Flower Child will serve bowls, wraps, grains and greens. ■ Nam Kitchen, by Alex Kinjo of MF Sushu, offers traditional Vietnamese food. Executive chef is Thuy Bich. ■ The Select will serve comfort food with a slight French twist, and is from the team behind Paces and Vine in Vinings.
The rest of the space will be filled by fitness boutiques. They are:
■ TURN Studio, an indoor cycling and strength studio.
■ SculptHouse, a studio that offers core-sculpting workouts and one-on-one training, a retail boutique with activewear and beauty supplies and a blow-dry bar.
■ Vida-Flo, which creates treatments to help people rehydrate their bodies after exercising.
The businesses are all expected to open this summer, while government offi- cials will move into their offices early next month. The $229million project has been in the works for several years and is intended to create a sense of community for the 13-year-old city.
Paul said his goal — through government services and per- formances; food and exercise opportunities — is to have so many things going on in the new downtown that everyone finds something to like.
When the idea of creating City Spring was first broached, “We had no plan, no designs, all we had was a little bit of property we owned here,” Paul recalled. “We tore down a parking lot and put up paradise.”