Rendering courtesy of Paces Properties
For years, Paces Properties’ most recognizable Atlanta development was Vinings Jubilee, a “lifestyle center”—or, as others may put it, an outdoor mall. That reputation changed with the 2012 announcement of Krog Street Market. After years of buzz, tenant speculation, and construction delays, Paces last November opened the “epicurean center”—built within a former Inman Park stove factory where Tyler Perry once housed his studios. Krog Street Market now shares billing with the country’s top high-end food halls.
Paces hopes to parlay that success into its next major initiative: a barbell-shaped swath that begins downtown and courses along Memorial Drive to East Atlanta. Plans for the next few years include a variety of projects that aim to restore—rather than raze—as many existing structures as possible.
The company has already transformed a vacant 20-story office building into 327 upscale apartments at 250 Piedmont Avenue downtown, offering MARTA connectivity (via elevated tunnels) and swank amenities. It’s downtown’s first luxury rental development since the 1960s.
Paces’ ambitions for Memorial Drive are as high as their expected outlay: more than $150 million. The to-do list includes converting a warehouse near Oakland Cemetery into a 1960s-style shopping center with a grocer, pharmacist, and hardware store. And near the Atlanta BeltLine, Paces will retrofit a long-empty, 10-acre complex once owned by Atlanta Dairies into 318 apartments, with offices and retail. The centerpiece? An outdoor amphitheater (not to mention cafes and a beer garden).
Lastly, in East Atlanta, Paces plans to rehab and lease seven tired storefronts along Glenwood Avenue and create 120 new apartments. Says Paces vice president George Banks, “We’ve stuck with the east side because that’s where the great single-family neighborhoods are—the great bones.”
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This article originally appeared in our September 2015 issue.
