Downtown Atlanta re-development has big shoes to fill

It is the ultimate signal of a new day dawning for downtown Atlanta. The four Teilhaber brothers, purveyors of Friedman Shoes, a local Mitchell Street staple for a century, will be on the move for the first time since 1929.

“It’s going to be awhile before we go,” said Lane Teilhaber this week, “just down the street in a new location.”

Friedman’s, the celebrated store of big athletes, big feet, big shoes, big generational sports names and now big dreams.

According to published Fulton County records, SoDo Atlanta LLC led by entrepreneurs Jon Birdsong and David Cummings paid $7.5 million dollars for the 37,000 sq ft Friedman Shoes building, one of the city’s oldest standing structures, built in 1892.

“We’ve taken (Mitchell Street) hotel row which has lots and lots of history, it’s like a time capsule here, said Mr. Cummings, “we are helping fellow Atlantans rediscover the past.”

SoDo Atlanta LLC is doing more than celebrating the past. They now have a 53 building portfolio in South Downtown with 6 acres of parking as part of the 10 block renovation.

Entrepreneurial powerhouses Birdsong and Cummings acquired the project from a German company, Newport. The Berlin based firm spent 8 years developing then faced foreclosure.

Enter the Atlanta developers.

“We are turning the parking lot at Mitchell and Broad (across from Friedman Building) into a town square for the World Cup coming to Atlanta,” offered Mr. Birdsong.

SoDo Atlanta LLC  has also purchased 77 and 81 Peachtree Street amassing 21,000 additional square feet near Underground.

An incredible plan to lift a struggling part of downtown Atlanta that has been an afterthought for as long as anyone can remember.

“The area with its brick structures and history has the opportunity to be the most unique in the city, added Jon Birdsong, “obviously, the proximity to the stadium, arena and the Gulch will lift it too.”

As for the Friedman Shoes Building, what’s next? We shall see.

“It began as a Jewish social club, a precursor of the Standard Club, in the early 1890’s, then by the 1900’s became a hostel, a hotel with its location next to the train station, offered Mr. Birdsong, a University of Georgia grad and Atlanta native, “all floors are original, much as it was a century ago.”

The Friedman business started on the ground floor of the hotel, it mostly remained there for almost a century.

“Grandfather began here in 1929, selling used shoes to the railroad men who worked nearby, added Lane Teilhaber, “but how we did business, changed in the early 1960’s, when we discovered a new market, big sizes beginning with Billy Lothridge.”

In 1960’s, Lothridge was one of the biggest football stars in country. He played at Gainesville High School, excelled at QB for Georgia Tech, then closed his career as the Falcons punter.

Lothridge also wore a 13 shoe.

“Back then, size 13 was difficult to find, we discovered a new business model, focused on big feet and athletes,” laughed Lane.

As Friedman’s flourished, they continued to rent their space, but in the late 1970’s purchased the building.

For many years, they were the only business on hard scrabble Mitchell Street forgotten by a new booming city.

But in 2025, a rebirth.

Touring the former hotel upper floors, sealed for decades, passing the framed photos of the sporting famous from long ago, a faded autographed 8x10 of former Hawks star Pete Maravich, a poster of HOF Baltimore Colts TE John Mackey, Rams immortal Merlin Olson and dozens of NHL, NFL, and MLB players long forgotten.

Caption

This photo displays the exterior of the Friedman’s Shoes building on Mitchell Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

The steps toward the second floor, once the grand ballroom of the Jewish club still is framed by the circular doorways, and high ceilings with expansive areas loaded with shoe racks.

The third level untouched by time, single rooms left and right, some larger than others, wooden floors, windows as they were in 1892, views down Mitchell Street toward the state capitol.

Communal bathrooms (none in rooms), compartmental showers, steam heat grates, ornate steps and railings.

A massive renovation lies ahead, but what an extraordinary building saved. A big Atlanta footprint left by a shoe store catering to big feet. 👣

The grand possibilities here are worth the wait.