Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Little Late, A Lot Different, TOWN Brookhaven Opening Soon

This Thursday, October 28th, Costco will open their largest store in Georgia, measuring 146,000 s/f, in TOWN Brookhaven. While an off-site gas station is still in the works, I'm just happy to have my beloved Costco closer in than having to trek to Dunwoody or one of their other suburban locations. Aside from Costco though, what ELSE is opening in Sembler's TOWN Brookhaven? The answer to this question depends as much on who you ask as it does when you ask, as it seems the tenants and scheduled openings change frequently.
Open right now is Slack's Hoagie Shack, a New Jersey-based franchise that somehow turned upscale in its move down south. The restaurant is referred to on the Slack's corporate website as "Slack's Restaurant & Bar." As best I can tell, the only sites "in the progress of opening" are Moe's Southwest Grill and Publix Supermarket. Both of these are towards the front of the development, on Peachtree Road. I'm told that Publix plans to open by early spring, whereas from the looks of Moe's, they may very well open by the end of November. Moe's, as some may recall, had its location (a former Burger King) torn down as a part of the Sembler project so it's likely that they received a guaranteed space as a part of the sale of their parcel. There has been a lot of talk about what is going on in TOWN Brookhaven. In the ground level retail space of GoodWynn apartments, a number of "Coming Soon" signs are prominently displayed and building permits posted in each window, but from the outside, it's hard to see that any work has started in any of the businesses. Included in this row of stagnant storefronts are the would be Boogaloos Boutique, Noche Taqueria, The Cup, The Flying Biscuit Cafe, Olive Bistro and the Cafe at Pharr.
The following is a list of "would-be tenants" (and their openings) I have compiled from conversations with real estate executives, residents of apartments within TB and restaurateurs:
LA Fitness (Not a relocation, additional location-Spring) Marshalls (Relocated "Plaza Fiesta" location from Buford Hwy-Spring) Publix ( Possibly a Publix "Greenwise Market"- Spring) CinéBistro (Late Spring) Costco (October 28th) The Flying Biscuit Cafe (Delayed til...) Moe's Southwest Grill (Mid-late November)
Yoreka (Summer) Tin Drum Asia Cafe (Spring) Noche Tequila and Tapas Bar (Planned March opening) Boogaloos (February) Collage Boutique (Spring) Cafe at Pharr (late Fall) Olive Bistro (Spring) T-Mobile (Spring) The Cup, a cupcake bistro (late Spring) Carriage Cleaners (Spring) Cold Stone Creamery (rumored) Which Wich? (rumored) Atlanta Bread Co. (rumored)

By contrast, Jeff Fuqua, President of Sembler, announced the following (signed) tenants in the company's Nov / Dec 2007 newsletter:
Ray's on the River Nuevo Laredo Cantina Atkins Park Tavern Rolling Bones Premium Pit BBQ San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co. The Real Chow Baby: New American Stir Fry Genki Noodles and Sushi Sogno Gelato The Flying Biscuit Cafe Mirko Pasta Barnes & Noble
As you can see, the list has changed over 90%, the only constant is The Flying Biscuit Cafe a concept that has had trouble of late and I'm told may delay its opening past its current planned spring opening. Once said to be focused on local tenants and a community feel, Sembler has once again created a big box playpen with a few local boutiques sprinkled in. I'm happy for Brookhaven to finally have this project come to fruition but even more glad that Sembler did not get their way with their planned TOWN Briarcliff at North Druid Hills and Briarcliff Roads. Hopefully, with an improving economy and additional openings, TOWN Brookhaven will be the success many hoped for. ToNeTo Atlanta

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12 comments:

Jonathan said...

And thank the Lord they didn't get their way with their Midtown West development adjacent to Atlantic Station that had a design that was so suburban it probably would give Cherokee County a run for its money.

I'm not a fan of TOWN. It would have been much better had they pulled the development up to Peachtree Street instead of leaving suburban outparcels.

12-Inch Sandwich said...

I'm glad you have gotten a post up about this. I live in TB and have watched a ton of movement over the past 4-6 months.

Very excited about the Costco. In front of it (the Marshalls) just started work once the Costco was basically done. The Publix is moving along smoothly. The Moes has shot up quickly out of nowhere (that section of buildings was nothing but land in May). The LA Fitness hasn't had much work done, but they were using that land to store some of the building materials for the Costco, so hopefully it gets moving soon. We are really hoping for the Flying Biscuit, walking downstairs is much nicer than driving to J. Christophers.

While you may not be able to tell that any work is going on in the GoodWynn retail, I can tell you that it really only just started last month. Additionally, there are workers there daily. I am under the impression that they are building it out so it's not unfinished and crappy looking (which then makes it easier for tenants to move in), but they are definitely there (I have been woken up at 7am several times with the sound of them drilling something into my floor while installing the HVAC unit).

While I wish more of the stores/restaurants from the 2007 list were coming in there, I am happy with the mix that is coming in.

Question - does the Cafe at Pharr (late Fall) mean late Fall 2010 or late Fall 2011?

Atlantan99 said...

Hello 12-Inch Sandwich,

From what I'm told, the Cafe at Pharr plans to open Fall 2010, though I doubt this will happen on time. They are relocating their Pharr Road restaurant to Peachtree, and its doubtful they will move forward with Brookhaven before the move and reopening is complete.

Thanks for the question and for reading the blog.

Jonathan said...

If you look at TOWN from a satellite view, it's clear that Sembler had no intention of making this an urban/green development. They completely clear cut the area. I'm sure they could have preserved some of the trees if they had been so inclined.

About the only Sembler development that I have ever really liked is the Buckhead Target/Dicks/Filene's Basement complex. It is truly urban.

Anonymous said...

just went by costco- and it isn't open yet. fyi

Anonymous said...

omg i am an idiot ( and i am sick ) i thought today was opening day! whoops. pls delete previous comment!

Atlantan99 said...

Hello Anon,

Just back from the opening reception. Costco CEO Jim Sinegal was even there, making the rounds of local stores along with attending the openings of a new store in Fort Oglethorpe near Chattanooga and the TOWN Brookhaven store. Official opening is tomorrow at 8AM!

Anonymous said...

I am very disappointed to see all of these cheap national retailers, led by Costco, Marshalls and the obligatory fitness ctr coming to this project. Sembler's big box tenants will suck like a parasite on the surroundings and within 5 years I see this place having plenty of turnover and a difficult time maintaining a "class a" status. Also disappointed with the volumes of traffic those tenants/apts are likely to add to that portion of P'tree

mindspringyahoo said...

what tenants would you prefer? Costco is a pretty good tenant IMO.

If any of these move in, then you know it's hurting: value city, big lots, dollar tree, anna's linens, etc.

But to me, the tenant list isn't bad. Sembler has to go with whomever the economy will support.

Anonymous said...

Marshalls isn't much better than Annas Linens and the like, IMO.

Atlantan99 said...

LOL. Marshalls, especially both existing locations in Buckhead are way better than Anna's Linens. I've seen anything from Ferragamo to Marc Jacobs along with your typical Ralph Lauren and occasional The North Face jackets at Marshalls. Anna's Linens is more in line with dd's Discounts which could be the reason they just opened a dd's in Northeast Plaza, joining Anna's and a Dollar Tree!

Anonymous said...

Super excited about the LA Fitness.

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