Alpharetta, this week, approved redevelopment of the declining North Point Mall property. Developer Jamestown plans to transform the nearly 100-acre site into a mixed-use sports and entertainment district.
The redevelopment would include a 20,000-seat NHL arena if the league awards an expansion franchise to the Atlanta market and the Alpharetta site is selected.
Alpharetta is already a model for redevelopment drawing officials from cities outside of Georgia to study its growth. The North Point project could elevate Alpharetta onto an even larger stage.
“This puts Alpharetta into the global conversation anywhere you go,” Jamestown Managing Director Tim Perry said during a public hearing with Alpharetta City Council last Monday.
In a split vote of 4-3, council approved a North Point Mall Master Plan amendment to rezone the property from planned shopping center to mixed use.
The completed project would bring 565,000-square feet of restaurants and retail, 750,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, performing arts center, and nearly 1400 apartment units.
Before the vote, Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin said he believes Forsyth County is seeking to emulate Alpharetta’s growth, and noted the county is vying for an NHL franchise through plans for The Gathering at South Forsyth.
Gilvin said Alpharetta stands to benefit if a professional hockey arena is built in Fulton County rather than Forsyth County.
He said he has met with Fulton County commissioners about potential participation in the North Point tax allocation district.
“Every one of them understands how important it is for the hockey arena to be in Fulton County, not Forsyth. They have indicated that if we approve the project and identify the project and clarify the terms, they’ll participate.”
County participation could increase the amount of future property tax revenue available through the TAD to help fund infrastructure projects.
“What that means is we’re not just using Alpharetta’s small tax receipts to fund anything in that corridor,” Gilvin said. “They will help fund the TAD with their tax receipts, not just our tax receipts.”
North Point Mall opened in 1993 and is owned by New York Life. In 2022, city council rejected a $550 million mixed-use redevelopment plan by Trademark Property Company. At the time, with the U.S. still in the pandemic, city council members said they feared empty office space in newly built structures. Officials were especially averse to apartments in the area.
During Monday’s public hearing, Jamestown attorney Julie Sellers said that apartment communities near such places as Perimeter Mall and Phipps Plaza help support the malls’ continued success.
‘[Dunwoody]…approved two hotels [and] significant apartments, and when the High Street project is finished they are going to have 3,000 extra residential units next door to that mall,” Sellers said of Perimeter Mall. “That gives those retailers incentive to locate there because they’ve got so many people right there.
Part of Phipps Plaza was redeveloped to accommodate a hotel and an apartment community, she added.
In Alpharetta, by comparison, few residents live close by North Point Mall, Sellers said.
Councilman Dan Merkel said council made the right decision in denying the earlier project plans, but added that allowing the mall to continue to decline carries its own risks.
“This project without a doubt is a game changer for this city,” Merkel said of the Jamestown proposal. “We are in a position where economics is moving north of us. Commerce is moving north of us.”
Numerous residents voiced support for the redevelopment during public comment. But Councilman Douglas DeRito said 90 percent of emails sent to the city during the weekend before the council meeting opposed the project.
“This will change Alpharetta for decades if not forever,” DeRito said. “Many residents that I’ve spoken to are concerned about the expansive growth.”
The councilman said he wants to see the mall property redeveloped but he believes the current plans are an “overreach being cloaked as progress.”
