Area brokers tell GlobeSt.com the venture is the largest and most important intown development of its kind in east Atlanta in 30 years. Major national retailers already have reserved space in the center which is tentatively scheduled to open by March 2005. On the waiting list are Lowe's Home Improvement, Target, Kroger, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ross Dress For Less, Cost Plus World Market and Petsmart.

Larry Wood, a broker with locally based Bullock Mannelly Partners which structured the project, tells GlobeSt.com he is "truly amazed at the time, effort and expense put forth by the Sembler Co. to plan a project that incorporates the many design issues sought by the local neighborhoods and government officials, while putting together a financially viable shopping center that (also) works for the merchants who will occupy the project."

Wood calls the Sembler effort "one of the greatest balancing acts I have ever seen." He and Bullock Mannelly broker John Speros represented Atlanta Gas Light Co. in the sale of its 34-acre former headquarters site on Moreland Avenue to Sembler. Atlanta Gas relocated to Midtown.

Two existing office buildings and a service truck parking facility were housed on the former Atlanta Gas property. The utility commissioned Bullock Mannelly to determine the highest and best use for the site. Retail was the brokers' recommendation. The existing structures were demolished.

"The east Atlanta area is experiencing major positive changes in demographics, household income and housing values that had not been recognized in the 2000 census," says Speros. "East Atlanta is an area that had been overlooked and underserved by retailers for many years, requiring area residents to drive long distances to find quality retail stores."

The Sembler project on Moreland Avenue is situated between the Inman Park and Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA rapid-rail stations. Bullock Mannelly also brokered the sale to Sembler of a key four-acre parcel along Moreland Avenue that adjoins the Atlanta Gas tract. The four-acre site housed a former commercial bakery that had been converted to retail and mini storage uses by AA Action Inc.

Instant Insights /

Sembler Breaks Ground on $50M Mixed-Use Project

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