Breathing New Life Into Stonecrest
Husband and wife team Vaughn and Cassandra Irons have been busy over the last few years introducing Priví, which is a 143,000 square-foot innovative transformation of the former Sears building at Stonecrest Mall. The goal was to turn the property into a mixed-use project with culinary, entertainment, and cultural hotspots for the growing East Metro Atlanta community.
“Everything in here is about experience,” Vaughn said. “If you go to other places, you’re buying products, but here, you’re buying the environment, the smells, the experience, the architecture.”
Priví is short for privilege and a double entendre because the normal spelling indicates “to be in the know”, Vaughn explained.
The space offers immersive attractions like the aquarium SeaQuest, Picasso’s Splat Room, a multimedia art studio, a mixed martial arts and fitness studio, library, history museum, art gallery, coffee shop, juice bar, conference rooms, and more.
Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa
Early last month, the Irons opened a new location of the nation’s leading luxury massage and facial brands, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa. This marks the couple’s first spa in the Hand & Stone franchise system.
Cassandra said it feels “pretty good” to finally have Hand & Stone open. She also said she’s happy they’re doing it, and all the pre-opening business is behind them.
“Everything is moving forward, and it feels so good to be at this point,” she said.
Cassandra also said they are planning an official ribbon-cutting ceremony around the second week of April.
“We opened March 10, of course on corporate guidelines, so we definitely want to invite the community out and let everybody know,” she said.
Additionally, the Irons decided to open Priví and Hand & Stone because they are residents of Stonecrest and were tired of traveling outside of their community for the things they want to enjoy.
“We decided it was important for us to take on a leadership role in bringing the amenities and services we can afford, and our community deserves,” Vaughn said. “The lifestyle center of Priví was the concept and businesses like Hand & Stone breathe life into that concept because it emphasizes our commitment to customer service, quality experiences, and high level of quietness of the built environment.”
Vaughn said it has been a long journey getting Hand & Stone opened with having to build it from scratch.
“From the concept, to architectural and design through building and opening an operations hiring stack, which was finding the right team of people throughout this whole metro area, it took months of work for recruiting a great team,” he said.
The Irons said they want to provide a haven for relaxation, rejuvenation, and self-care.
The spa brings professional massage services, including Swedish, Himalayan Salt, Sports, Deep Tissue, Oncology and Prenatal massages to the Stonecrest community. Guests can also visit the new spa to enjoy Hand & Stone’s signature hot stone massage and facial and hair removal treatments tailored to everyone’s needs or skin concerns, with a wide range of services available for women, men, and teens.
Through it all, we have each other
Having been together for eight years and recently married, the Irons have each other’s backs in both love and in business.
Not too long ago, Vaughn was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease. When a suitable match for an organ donation couldn’t be found, Cassandra put her name in, but unfortunately was not a match.
In 2022, during the development of their Hand & Stone spa location, she donated her kidney to a stranger, who, in turn, donated theirs to Vaughn. Through these health challenges, the Irons remained focused on their goal of creating generational wealth for their family and a legacy for their children, while finding new ways to serve their community.
Additionally, Vaughn said one of the moments that inspired him as an entrepreneur and added more inspiration for Priví was during his stage five kidney disease battle. This pushed the Irons to want to do something for the community in a big, impactful way.
“It’s nice to rally around a health issue, but we wanted to put a tangible example of what people could do to prevent from having health challenges or how to make it easier to build,” he said.
The entire idea, Vaughn said, came while he was at Grady Hospital and what people will see once they enter Priví, is the result of the inspiration the Irons received from God.
“Every couple should have a project, and this is the project we worked on hand in hand,” he said. “This is the spirit of both of us, putting our talents together, the inspiration from God, and us being obedient. We hope people get a taste of that as they move through and see what’s here.”
Additionally, Vaughn said Cassandra was a huge champion through his kidney disease journey. With Vaughn being a developer by trade and Cassandra having an operations background, he said it’s a “really great synergy” of their skills.
“Knowing I could depend on my wife to be able to figure out how to make the operation work was an amazing feeling. I handled real estate, and she handles the day-to-day operations,” he said.
“I make sure we have the right staff that fit within the scope of everything that we have going on here all the way from the accounting side, finance side, and ensuring our facilities are where they should be,” Cassandra said.
The Irons said only God could have gotten them through all the challenges they faced while getting Priví started.
“It’s all inspired and protected by God,” they said.
The Future of Priví & Beyond
The complete vision of Priví comes in phases, according to the Irons.
Currently, the Irons are working on phase three of the project, which will be a 40,000-square-foot chef-driven food hall. The food hall will include 13 restaurants and seven bars, according to the Irons.
“That’s very challenging, but we’ve had a lot of great support from the City of Stonecrest. When the food comes, I think everything else will take off,” Vaughn said.
There will be restaurants like the Atlanta Breakfast Club, The Original Hotdog Factory, and more. There will also be fine dining restaurants with steak, sushi, and seafood alongside a wine bar.
Cassandra also said the next phase after the food hall will be a hotel, which has an expectancy date of 2026, just in time for the World Cup, which will have its semi finals take place in downtown Atlanta.
As far as advice, Cassandra said to continue to stay steadfast in your dreams and goals.
“It’s not an easy road being an entrepreneur and of course being a Black entrepreneur, you get it a little harder,” Cassandra said. “Just stay the course and know exactly what it is you align with and what your visions are going to be for your company and stay steadfast.”
Vaughn said entrepreneurship is 100% fear management and the first fear you should conquer is getting started and stepping out on faith.
“Every day you’re waking up and you must face the fear of how to generate enough cash flow in order to meet your obligations,” he said. “For all the entrepreneurs, they have to realize that an idea is only a seed, and if you don’t water it or nurture it, it’s never going to come to fruition.”
For more information, visit https://www.privistonecrest.com.
