Alpharetta says redevelopment plans for North Point Mall could come early this year

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta officials expect to get new redevelopment plans for the aging North Point Mall within the next three months.

The mall, which opened in 1993, has struggled in recent years to compete with Avalon, a nearby mixed-use development.

Many of North Point Mall’s stores have since closed.

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“North Point Mall will continue to be a key anchor,” Alpharetta Assistant City Administrator James Drinkard said. “That property will continue to be a prime driver of activity throughout Alpharetta and the region.”

Drinkard said the mall owner, New York Life, expects to submit a redevelopment plan sometime in the first quarter of the year, but it’s unclear what it will include.

“We’re really looking to make it more of an experiential center, a gathering place for the community, with a variety of uses and activities within it,” Drinkard said.

In 2022, a developer presented a $500 million plan to redevelop North Point Mall. The Trademark Property Company planned to demolish the mall and create an outdoor-centric village environment. Its proposal called for an upscale hotel, restaurants, office space, 18 acres of green space, for-sale townhomes and 875 apartments.

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But city officials balked at the number of rental homes, wanting no more than 650. In November 2022, city council members rejected the plan, in part because of the number of apartments. The city aims to have no more than 35% of its housing as rental property. Drinkard said city leaders had other qualms with the plan.

“The developer wanted to put in all of the residential units first, with no guarantee of when the commercial components would follow, and that’s something we could not get comfortable with,” Drinkard said.

Shoppers at North Point Mall are eager to see the 84-acre property transformed into something that will lure people back.

“More restaurants and outdoor living and playing for the kids and walking around,” said Alpharetta resident Lisa Brennan. She also said she’d like to see more apartment living offered at North Point Mall. “I just think it would bring a lot more people to the area if there was a place to live and they could come out and dine and shop and have fun,” she said.

Mark Whelan, a longtime Alpharetta resident, said he too would welcome more apartments in the city. “I mean, everybody’s looking for housing,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s apartments or whether they put something else in here. I don’t think that matters so much.”

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims emailed the property owner for information about a development plan, but did not hear back Tuesday.

City officials say other mixed-use developments in the North Point area have been approved and will break ground this year. In April, council members approved Windward Park, a 47-acre mixed-use development at North Point and Windward parkways that will include residential, retail and office space. City council members also approved a 24-acre development on Morrison Parkway that is set to get under construction this year.

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