Brother Moto, the motorcycle co-op that was pushed out of East Atlanta Village due to neighborhood zoning rules, has found a new home. The crew will be moving into a warehouse-y building at 670 Memorial Drive owned by Paces Properties, who seem to be grabbing up everything they can on the east side of Atlanta. The move continues the uncanny momentum for Memorial Drive, a vital corridor that had struggled to attract investment until recent years.

The new Brother Moto space is located in a prime area at the intersection with Powell Street next to City Used Appliance at the edge of Cabbagetown. According to founder Jared Erickson, they could have moved their business out of the city, but it was never their intention to do so.

Erickson told Curbed, "We got a lot of offers outside of the city to move to some suburbs and a few different parts of the city, but we felt we wanted to stay in the heart of the city."

The new building has a lot more space than their previous location, and more suitable zoning, which gives them the opportunity to complete their vision, which went unrealized at the previous space. "It's about twice as big so it gives us a lot of room to complete our overall vision. We're still working out all of the details, but we do hope to open up the full-blown coffee program there, so we'll have a nice kind of coffee shop vibe and a lot more retail," Erickson said. "At the same time, our members will be able to have twice the amount of space to work, which is great."

Paces, for their part, seems proportionally excited about new tenants who are now part of the changing face of the Memorial corridor. George Banks, Paces vice president, told Curbed the company is just trying to fill the gaps in untapped demand in Atlanta. "The intown neighborhoods are changing every day," he said. "The needs of the intown community are changing every day, and they're not being met. We've got great tenants like Brother Moto that are local guys doing local stuff and we need to go out and find those guys 'cause the neighborhood wants them and we want them."

Paces is best known for developing Krog Street Market and has attracted much attention for their in-the-works projects on Memorial, Atlanta Dairies and Larkin on Memorial. "We think it's an area prime for improvement," Banks said. "I mean Memorial touches all of the great neighborhoods on the east side of town. It's a major east/west street in a town without many east/west streets. It's near the MARTA. It's just a great street that has a lot of up potential."

The Moto project doesn't have an exact timeline yet, but Erickson said they'll keep the public updated on social media. "Our goal is to give people kind of a stepping stone that may be serious about motorcycle culture and bikes but have never been around a motorcycle before," Erickson said. "You know to get them in the door to grab coffee because they're familiar with that idea but hang around, check out bikes and talk to people working on their bikes. We're just trying to encourage that kind of community."



· East Atlanta Motorbike/Coffee Shop is Grudgingly Moving On [Curbed]

· Candler Park Market to Open Outpost in Grant Park [Curbed]

· Another Big Piece of Memorial Drive Targeted for Development [Curbed]

· Inside 'Atlanta Dairies' Project Before the Overhaul [Curbed]