Choosing Albany: Milan Patel

Choosing Albany

MILAN PATEL

Milan Patel stands in front of his latest project, Bottoms Up!" The upscale package store is the cornestone to the second phase of Shoppes at Westover development, which includes four new businesses. The first phase of the Shoppes includes Surcheros and his Newk's Eatery.

WHEN MILAN PATEL LEFT ALBANY FOR THE ATLANTA AREA IN 2007, he never imagined himself returning. He had just finished a threeyear stint of running a retail business off of Gillionville Road before selling it to return to the Atlanta area. When the financial crisis of 2008 hit just a year after moving, Patel lost everything. As he built himself back up, he found himself looking at another opportunity in Albany in 2010, just three years after he left without any plans to come back. That opportunity was the former Holiday Inn property near the Albany Mall that Patel and his partnership group bought, cleared, and then turned into the Olive Garden that stands there today. “My next opportunity could have been … anywhere, but it was here,” said Patel. “And then when it was here, one thing led to another and I stayed here. And I’ve been here now 11 years.” And so through a meandering journey that started with being born in New Jersey, living in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and then in Newnan, Georgia growing up, going to college in Athens, coming to Albany, leaving, and making his way back, Patel came to call Albany his home. “Albany chose me,” Patel said. “A place that welcomes you and lets you be successful, that place chooses you.” One thing that stood out to Patel about Albany after living in so many different places was the people. “Everybody knows you in your neighborhood,” said Patel. “Everybody knows you in the next neighborhood. They want to get to know you. They want to find ways to connect with you, and you didn’t get that (in Newnan).

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More than just a place to work, Albany is where people connect.

I lived in Newnan, Georgia, for 10 years, and I only knew one of my neighbors. … This community (Albany) opens up to you.” And for what it’s worth, Patel doesn’t necessarily miss the amenities that big city living has to offer. “If a person who lives an hour away from the Braves stadium and a person from Albany wants to go to a Braves game, it’s no different,” said Patel. “I think sometimes we exaggerate that. I think everything people wish to be accessible in a big city, is just as accessible from Albany. … I think if you have a thirst for the arts or a thirst for cross-cultural cuisine, I think you’ll make that effort to travel to Tallahassee or Jacksonville or Atlanta at your whim. Could you enjoy it on a daily basis? Probably not, but most people who live in Atlanta don’t enjoy it on a daily basis either. “… I feel Albany is a great place. If we leave work in Albany at five o’clock, we’re home at 5:15. If you leave work at 5:00 in Atlanta, you’re home at 6:15. The

narrative can be twisted so quickly when people say there’s nothing to do in Albany, but you’re also not doing traffic for one hour and 15 minutes each way. It’s all relative.” In the 11 years Patel has been back, he has been witness to all the growth and development that Albany has experienced over the past decade. “Albany is a hub for Southwest Georgia,” said Patel. “Anytime you’re a regional hub, no matter where you make your money, you have to have a place to spend it. I’ve seen where Albany has been a benefactor in that.” To be sure, Patel has had a big impact on that growth himself. What started with the old Holiday Inn turned Olive Garden that led him back here has grown to several retail businesses, restaurants (including Newk’s Eatery and the Dairy Queen in Dawson), and several strip malls in the greater Albany Area.

“ALBANY HAS BEEN GOOD TO ME, AND

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH, I HOPE I’VE BEEN GOOD FOR IT,” SAID PATEL.

“I hope I've worked hard and done good things and made things look nicer.”