Lennar, Sterling buy North DeKalb Mall (Atlanta, Tucker: 2014, attorney, neighborhoods)

[Airforceguy]

They plan on turning the mall into an open-air concept.
Lennar, Sterling buy North DeKalb Mall - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Airforceguy

They plan on turning the mall into an open-air concept.
Lennar, Sterling buy North DeKalb Mall - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Pretty obvious that's the only way for it to survive. Its dead as a mall.

They may have waited too long though. Toco Hills and Northlake have a lot of the retailers they should have. Suburban Plaza is being redeveloped as well.

[arjay57]

Looks like North DeKalb is getting a Costco and a bunch of mixed use. That area is really hopping these days.

Tomorrow's News Today - Atlanta: [UPDATE] Costco CONFIRMED at North DeKalb Mall

Attorney says Costco headed to North DeKalb Mall as part of larger development, could open by 2020 | Decaturish - Locally sourced news

[Iconographer]

VERY good news. It's like the ugliest girl in high school finally got a date.

[MattCW]

What I find odd about North Dekalb and Northlake, is the surrounding area isn't hurting at all, at least appearance wise. At Northlake, the only abandoned buildings is the old Toys R Us. Gwinnett Place however has several shopping centers that are abandoned or really low-patronage.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by MattCW

What I find odd about North Dekalb and Northlake, is the surrounding area isn't hurting at all, at least appearance wise. At Northlake, the only abandoned buildings is the old Toys R Us. Gwinnett Place however has several shopping centers that are abandoned or really low-patronage.

I think this has alot to do with two large malls in the vicinity or basically Sugar Mills and Mall of Georgia pretty much relocating everything Gwinnett Place originally offered. So Gwinnett Place has alot more competition than N.Dekalb or N.Lake Mall.

Another thing that has happened at Gwinnett Place is it has become dominantly Asian so the market for that area is very...specified so to speak. Combined with Sugar Mills not even 5 miles away and Mall Of Georgia offering everything ten times over that Gwinnett Place originally offered, I can kind of see why that area took a Nuke... ...what I find surprising however is that the traffic levels on both Pleasant Hill and Satelite however seem hardly phased by these events.

Come to think of it, I pass Gwinnett Place area pretty often but I havent stopped to shop in any of its shopping plazas in a LONG time.

[atlantamoi]

Traffic is just going to get uglier and uglier between Decatur and North Dekalb mall, but I am really happy with some of the shopping additions in the last year alone. Not sure how all these new grocery stores can sustain, though. When that mall gets the upgrade there goes cheap movies prices at the AMC (almost feel like it's a big secret!). We love Costco and do actually drive to Perimeter, Brookhaven or Gwinnett every couple of months. Will be great to have it so close.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by MattCW

What I find odd about North Dekalb and Northlake, is the surrounding area isn't hurting at all, at least appearance wise. At Northlake, the only abandoned buildings is the old Toys R Us. Gwinnett Place however has several shopping centers that are abandoned or really low-patronage.

The problem with Northlake is that it (until recently) was operated by Simon Malls, who also operate Lenox and Phipps, which are close enough to Northlake's customer base that they don't care to create competition for themselves. Why bring in good stores when you know people are more than willing to drive to Lenox?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by JPD

The problem with Northlake is that it (until recently) was operated by Simon Malls, who also operate Lenox and Phipps, which are close enough to Northlake's customer base that they don't care to create competition for themselves. Why bring in good stores when you know people are more than willing to drive to Lenox?

A good point. I felt like Northlake would be stuck in neutral as long as Simon was in charge. I have hope that it will follow suit with NDM, as it is ripe for reinvention as well. The whole Northlake area is.
Really most of the retail centers in NW DeKalb have failed to keep pace over the years with the increasingly affluent residential neighborhoods that support them. As a result, they've been thrown over by the locals for more attractive options to the north and west. Toco Hill and Brighten Park (the former Loehmann's Plaza) have recently gotten with the program, but the rest have some serious catching up to do.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

A good point. I felt like Northlake would be stuck in neutral as long as Simon was in charge. I have hope that it will follow suit with NDM, as it is ripe for reinvention as well. The whole Northlake area is.
Really most of the retail centers in NW DeKalb have failed to keep pace over the years with the increasingly affluent residential neighborhoods that support them. As a result, they've been thrown over by the locals for more attractive options to the north and west. Toco Hill and Brighten Park (the former Loehmann's Plaza) have recently gotten with the program, but the rest have some serious catching up to do.

It's coming, I think. I've lost count of all the people I know who have moved to Tucker/Northlake in recent years. Intown folks who now have kids and are priced out of the intown neighborhoods with good schools. So there's a lot of fresh pocketbooks full of money in the area. Eventually the retail scene will reflect that. You can already see it in Oak Grove. The retail around there was stale, at best, for a long time, but the entire area has reinvented itself. I think it's an age shift more than a money shift that has lead to the positive changes. (speaking just about retail here, because I think the mansionizing of the area is a negative change.)