Remembering an Atlanta Visionary
Tom Cousins, who passed in July at 93, was a great man and good friend to my family. My father Neely Young partnered with Cousins to start Southern Publishing Company, and later the three of us owned Georgia Trend – which is now owned by Morris Communications Company.
In spite of possessing a shyness the likes of which I have rarely seen, Cousins was honored multiple times by Georgia Trend for his accomplishments. The giant Georgia World Congress Center is a prominent reminder of his generosity, as his company donated the land to build the first stage of it. The Bank of America Plaza is one of many testaments to his success, as he led the development of it in 1992.
He once seemed doubtful about whether local people wanted a golf course in their neighborhood or resented the gentrification.
Self-deprecation was a part of his unique sense of humor. He rarely hesitated to make big decisions for the greater good but actively avoided recognition for his generosity. The name of his subsidiary, Nonami Enterprises, reflects this “no name” approach to good deeds.
It was fascinating to watch the East Lake Foundation project take shape. Cousins was devoted to seeing the project through to success. I remember an integral element of the neighborhood rehabilitation effort, when Drew Elementary School closed to expand into the Charles L. Drew Charter School, eventually serving students from pre-K to 12th grade, which required a considerable sum to complete.
“Well, we’re losing them,” he said at the time, referring to the dropout rate. “I guess we’ll have to build a high school.” Just like that. Cousins knew from intense study that his mission would be incomplete if the young people key to turning the neighborhood around didn’t make it to graduation, which necessitated expanding Drew School to pre-K to 12th grade. Driving up and down Memorial Drive, I saw the building rise quickly and marveled how Cousins could get such a thing done.
The late Tom Cousins: developer, civic leader and philanthropist. Photo credit: Jennifer Stalcup
Living nearby, I also marveled at the impact. He once seemed doubtful about whether local people wanted a golf course in their neighborhood or resented the gentrification. It’s a sensitive issue but having known many longtime and new residents in that area, I assured him that they did indeed appreciate it. The investment cleaned out some of the toughest crime in Atlanta. Each day I see both new and old residents enjoying the park without fear of their safety.
And in my opinion, it’s had a broader impact, contributing to the redevelopment of other neighborhoods south of MARTA’s East-West line from Avondale Estates and Kensington to Inman Park-Reynoldstown. When the Atlanta Beltline transformed Old Fourth Ward from a high-crime corridor into a safe, walkable neighborhood, I recognized Cousins’ vision of targeted efforts to eradicate the generational crime so entrenched in certain city neighborhoods and zip codes.
He wound up partnering with philanthropists Warren Buffet and Julian Robertson to take the effort national by establishing Purpose Built Communities. Now in 30 locations in 14 states, PBC projects include The Mill District in Columbus, Focused Community Strategies in Atlanta, Grove Park Foundation in Atlanta, South Rome Alliance in Rome in addition to East Lake Foundation. And the East Savannah United community is also in the works.
While the Drew Charter School and East Lake Golf Club anchored East Lake’s redevelopment, East Savannah United is anchored by an early learning center for 144 children, a SPLOST-funded children’s library, a YMCA fitness and community center and a Goodwill Adult Education Center on nearly 9 acres on Wheaton Street. In Rome, the PBC project includes mixed-income and senior housing as well as educational facilities. The Banks at Mill Village in Columbus features housing with a health clinic on site, extensive amenities and access to the Riverwalk in Columbus, as well as after school care through Boys & Girls Club and employment training.
With disregard for the marginalized seemingly on the rise, we can only hope for more leaders like Cousins who have the gumption and wherewithal to see such philanthropic visions through to reality. As we learn more about successful models such as PBC, we learn that, with time, they may need fine tuning.
As one reader recently pointed out, entrepreneurial assistance, for one thing, could play a more prominent role in neighborhood rehab efforts – but those efforts are working and represent hope for the systematically disadvantaged.
I hope we see more leaders carry the ball forward after Cousins, who got the ball rolling back in 1995 to make the part of Atlanta where I live so great today. He never quit and neither should we.
Ben Young is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Georgia Trend. | byoung@georgiatrend.com
