Owner George Cameli makes plea on Facebook to save the 20-year-old Ponce de Leon pizzeria from the ‘Beltline paradigm.’
George Cameli, the restaurateur behind Cameli’s Gourmet Pizza Joint, is fearful that the redevelopment of Murder Kroger is going to kill his restaurant business of 20 years.
Cameli took to Facebook this week with a sponsored post pleading with Atlantans to save the Ponce de Leon mainstay.
“Don’t let Murder Kroger kill Cameli’s Pizza,” Cameli Thursday posted to the restaurant’s page. “Don’t let Cameli’s Pizza be the next victim of the new intown redevelopment/Beltline paradigm.”
The forthcoming “behemoth redevelopment” on the Beltline has “already had serious negative effects on Cameli’s Pizza,” he said.
The project, 725 Ponce, a mixed-use development anchored by Kroger, could take nearly two years to complete, according to Cameli.
Cameli voiced concerns that when Murder Kroger temporarily shutters for construction of its new home, his business will suffer.
“When shopping center ‘anchors’ like Kroger close it can have dire consequences for the adjacent businesses within that shopping center. It would be tragic irony to think that in some way our efforts to help improve our intown neighborhoods may ultimately lead to our demise…”
Cameli is planning to launch a “20 More Years on Ponce” Campaign urging Atlantans to patronize Cameli’s Pizza while Murder Kroger undergoes its lengthy redevelopment.
“When the Kroger development is finished, we plan on thriving in our new environment, but until then we will need your continued support to keep the doors open. Cameli’s has been kickin’ for 20 years and I hope we can serve you for another 20.”
To read Cameli’s post in it’s entirety, click here.
