Gwinnett County’s redevelopment agency is slated to buy the shuttered Sears store at Gwinnett Place Mall as it pushes forward on the defunct retail center’s rebirth. 

Gwinnett County is purchasing the former Sears store at Gwinnett Place Mall.

The Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett County unanimously approved the purchase of the 11.5-acre vacant Sears store and adjacent parking lot for $11.5M during the agency’s special meeting on Tuesday. 

The empty department store is owned by Northwood Ravin, which purchased it in 2018 from Sears for $11M, according to Gwinnett County records.

The acquisition brings the county one step closer to its longtime goal of redeveloping the ailing mall. Later this month, Gwinnett officials plan to issue a request for proposals from developers for their vision on the mall’s rebirth, Nicole Love Hendrickson, who heads the URA and is chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, told Bisnow on Wednesday.

Those visions would likely involve developers razing parts of the existing mall, Hendrickson said. The main 562K SF enclosed portion of the mall — which the county purchased from Moonbeam Capital in 2021 for $23M — was used as a set for Netflix’s Stranger Things in 2019.

“It’s likely some parts of it will have to be torn down, but we have to wait for those proposals to come back to see what needs to stay, what needs to go,” she said. 

The Sears deal is expected to close by the end of October, after which point the county will command 87.5 acres of the mall property, including the former Macy’s department store that Gwinnett purchased in 2024 for $16.5M. 

The sale officially ends any ambition Northwood Ravin, which is primarily a multifamily developer, had for the former Sears store. Hendrickson said talks about the county buying its portion of Gwinnett Place Mall had been evolving for some time but became more realistic after Gwinnett bought the Macy’s anchor last year. 

“It signaled to them that it was time to let go of the property,” she said. 

Charlotte-based Northwood Ravin didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Board of Commissioners approved a plan in 2023 to redevelop the mall with up to 3,800 new housing units set in seven different villages, 55K SF of retail centered around a 4.4-acre central park, 50K SF of office, and a 52K SF international community cultural center and a public parking garage. 

The county is also proposing turning the current ring road around the mall into a 1.25-mile greenway with sidewalks and a cycle track.

The two open mall anchors, Asian department store Mega Mart and beauty supply retailer Beauty Master, own their own spaces. Hendrickson said the county has reached out in the past about acquiring their real estate so Gwinnett can have complete control over the property, but those talks have gone nowhere. 

“I think ultimately having 100% of the property would give us prime opportunity to redevelop it,” she said. “Having the existing anchor tenants there will make it a challenge but won’t make it impossible. We are not pressuring any of the anchor owners to give up their properties.”

The redevelopment will also include a new multimodal hub for rapid bus, microtransit and vehicles, called the Gwinnett Place Transit Center, a project largely funded by the Federal Transit Administration. The transit center, located on a county-owned parcel across from the former Macy’s department store, is expected to finish in 2032.

The actual redevelopment of the mall, though, will likely take much longer. Hendrickson said the eventual developer and its vision for the project will determine the timeline for redevelopment.

“Commercial mall redevelopment typically takes 25 to 30 years,” Hendrickson said. “It’s a legacy project. I probably won’t be in office by the time this is complete. But I can say I had a hand in getting it off the ground.”

Atlas Development is developing “Project Springbank,” a $4.5 billion data center. The proposed facility will be located southeast of Adairsville, near Perkins Mountain Road, approximately an hour northwest of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports It’s the same developer that recently filed plans to build a $17 billion data center, “Project Sail,” in Coweta County.

For the Bartow project, the company plans to construct six buildings, each about 379,000 square feet and using about 72 megawatts of power. Data centers have massive power requirements. Through 2037, data centers will account for almost 83% of Georgia Power’s electricity demand from large potential new customers.

In addition, water use is a big issue as well. The Bartow County project is expected to use about 15,000 gallons of water per day, and it would use closed-loop water technology to reduce water and sewer demand.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2031.

Hines is partnering with the Aubrey Corporation to create a new employment center and mixed-use village consisting of over 2,390 acres in Bartow County, Georgia. Once complete, the mixed-use development will include up to ten million square feet of new manufacturing, data center, and logistics facilities as well as shops, restaurants, hotels, and a diverse offering of residential properties.

The mixed-use village component of the development program is planned to feature shopping and dining options including a grocer and large-format national retailers, as well as local and regional restaurants, cafes, and shops organized around a central green space. The residential offering will include townhomes and apartments.

The project is projected to be completed over the next ten to twelve years in several phases, with Hines expecting to break ground on the initial infrastructure in late 2025 or 2026. Jim Ramseur and Samantha Wheeler with Lee & Associates represented the Aubrey Corporation. Ramseur Real Estate Advisors will act as the managing consultant for the ventures’ commercial and residential parcels moving forward.

Fairfield Residential acquired Chroma Park Apartments in Cobb County for a combined $63.4 million.

The company paid approximately $173,700 per unit for the community, which features 365 apartments with one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Fairfield paid just under $36.5 million for the 17.5-acre parcel at 2105 Mesa Valley Way in Austell. The company also paid about $27 million for the adjacent 26-acre tract at 2100 Mesa Valley Way.

Both tracts were previously owned by Federal Capital Partners.

Federal Capital Partners paid $29.5 million for the 17.5-acre tract in January 2019. The company then purchased the 26-acre tract three months later for $17.7 million. 

Fairfield owns more than 44,000 multifamily units in the U.S. across its acquisitions, affordable housing developments and new construction properties.

Gindi Equities sold the Lindsey Manor Apartments, a 222-unit multifamily community at 472 Lindsey Street in Kernersville, North Carolina, for $34 million, or approximately $153,000 per apartment.  

The company says it’s the largest residential transaction of the year in Forsyth County, which encompasses the City of Winston-Salem and a number of rapidly expanding towns, including Kernersville. Acquired by Gindi Equities in October 2021 for $24.5 million, Lindsey Manor features a mix of one- two- and three-bedroom apartments conveniently located near downtown Kernersville.  

Gindi Equities completed a series of capital improvements to enhance the property, including apartment interior renovations, a full reroofing, a new dog park and grilling area, and upgrades to the pool and playground.  

In September, Gindi Equities sold Greenview Meadows in Gastonia, for $14.5 million. Gindi acquired the 109-unit multifamily community in February 2021 for $10 million.

AMS Acquisitions recently completed and held the official opening of Sylvan Woods at Howell, a 55-plus residential community located at 6461 U.S. Hwy. 9 in the Monmouth County community of Howell Township, NJ. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Dec. 13 at the Howell complex with company and local dignitaries attending. 

The 14-acre site features four buildings with a total of 100 units, a clubhouse and outdoor patio and pool.  Monthly rents in the four-story buildings range from $2,300 to $3,600. 

Construction, which started in the spring of 2023, took about 18 months to complete.  “We are excited to begin leasing,” said Ari Mitnick, AMS co-head of acquisitions. “This community will serve a huge need for downsizers in Howell Township and greater Monmouth County.”

AMS, which purchased the Howell site from OneKey LLC in mid-2022, has been actively expanding its suburban multifamily development platform in New Jersey, Westchester County and Connecticut.

Atlas Development is exploring the possibilities of constructing 13 data centers about 40 miles outside Atlanta in Coweta County. The project, expected to cost $17 billion at full buildout, is far from a done deal. The company’s proposal must contend with power needs that exceed those of the county’s households. Through 2037, data centers will account for almost 83% of Georgia Power’s electricity demand from large potential new customers.

In addition, the company must manage the huge water and sewer requirements for a project of this size.

The project would rise on 800 acres near Newnan on a tract off U.S. 27 bounded by Wagers Mill and Welcome to Sargent roads. Each data center would be 378,000 square feet, with the whole project spanning almost 5 million square feet.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Coweta County estimates the project would generate almost $1.6 billion in annual tax revenue. 

The Develop Fulton Board of Directors unanimously approved a $538 million bond inducement for Project Nexus, a mixed-use economic development initiative. This project aims to transform a distressed property into a hub of economic and community development. Situated in Atlanta and East Point, the project would include affordable housing, essential services, and a host of amenities.

The mixed-use project, combining residential and retail elements, would generate more than $60.5 million in revenue over 10 years—30 times its current contribution. With an anticipated $4 billion overall economic impact, Project Nexus would create approximately 1,300 new permanent jobs and 2,800 temporary construction jobs while retaining 50 existing positions.

The development plan will create 1,126 residences, offering a mix of affordable and market-rate housing options to accommodate a range of income levels. 

 JLL Capital Markets completed the $200-million sale of The Gas Company Tower, a 1.3-million-square-foot office tower at 555 W. Fifth St. in Downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles County emerged as the buyer for the 53% occupied office tower, which JLL marketed on behalf of a CMBS trust that previously held the mortgage.

The seller was represented by a JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team led by senior managing directors Jeffrey Bramson, Sean Ryan and Tom Hall, managing director Andrew Harper and director Will Poulsen.

“The Gas Company Tower presented a tremendous opportunity to purchase a top asset in DTLA at pricing not seen in nearly 20 years,” said Bramson. “This transaction represents an important milestone in the DTLA office market as we are witnessing a reset of the market and anticipate increased transaction activity and pricing stability in 2025.”

Colliers facilitated the $61.8 million sale of POLYWOOD’s 930,250-square-foot manufacturing and warehousing campus in Person County, North Carolina. Colliers’s Jimmy Ullrich, Ryan Vaught, Michael Macchia and Riley Vaught represented the sellers, Weston and Blue Vista Capital Management. Carolina Logistics Center and Tratt Properties were the buyers.

The facility will continue to serve as both a manufacturing facility and a distribution center for POLYWOOD, an outdoor furniture company. This will allow the company to continue shipping its products to customers along the East Coast.

Located at 3300 Jim Thorpe Hwy, the site is composed of two buildings, including one that is the original 430,256 square foot building utilized to extrude, manufacture, package, and distribute the POLYWOOD product. The second building is a newly completed build-to-suit 500,000-square foot facility, completing POLYWOOD’s final assembly and shipping. It features a 100,000-sq.-ft. recycling area, a 200,000-square-foot foot extrusion area, and a 200,000-square-foot finished goods area.

The project is located 30 miles north of Raleigh-Durham.