Steve Mensch's effects on Tyler Perry Studios, southwest Atlanta will live on

ATLANTA - Members of the Fort McPherson Local Redevelopment Authority say Steve Mensch, the late president of Tyler Perry Studios, was instrumental in developing hundreds of acres of the former army base in southwest Atlanta. 

"My heart was broken. As soon as I learned, my heart was broken, I didn't want to believe it," said chairman of the Fort McPherson Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) Cassius F. Butts.

He says Mensch’s sudden passing came as a terrible shock.

The single-engine plane Mensch was piloting crashed in Florida on Friday. 

Butts says he was a joy to work with. 

"He always had a way to make you laugh. He always had a way of making you smile, even during challenging times," Butts said. 

Butts says when Tyler Perry purchased 330 acres of the Fort McPherson Army Base site in 2015, Mensch was instrumental in transforming it from a sprawling, rundown property into the thriving movie studio it is today. 

"It was something that was really desolate for a number of years. And so, we have to credit the relationship and the leadership with Tyler Perry Studios and Steve leading that effort, working together with our team at Fort McPherson and David Burt, our executive director, to make something special," Butts said. 

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Steve Mensch (Credit: Tyler Perry Studios)

He says Mensch’s leadership and Perry’s vision transformed the economic landscape in southwest Atlanta and Fulton County, creating numerous jobs and opportunities for small businesses in the area. 

"He created a pathway so small businesses, entrepreneurs and citizens could actually all work together," Butts said. 

When the pandemic hit and shut down movie studios all over the world, Butts says it was Mensch who spearheaded the effort to create a "bubble" at Tyler Perry Studios and the campus of Fort McPherson for the studio to continue operation. 

"There were creatives and media enthusiasts, actors, actresses, small businesses, all having a thriving, really robust small community right here during the middle of a pandemic. And that was huge. Huge! And it was a huge economic plus to this community, making certain that folks were still able to work during those challenging times," Butts said. 

The chairman says it’s one of Mensch’s contributions he’ll remember the most. 

Butts says Mensch’s impact on the economic future of the region and the state will never be forgotten. 

"Steve's relationship with Tyler Perry and Fort McPherson LRA, our staff and the community, is something that the rest of the world can learn from…his legacy has definitely been cemented within this community," he said. 

Butts says the LRA is working on plans now to memorialize Mensch in a way befitting his impact on the region.