Thursday, April 4, 2019

[UPDATE] Developers Hope to Turn Former Friday's Plaza in Doraville into Apartments

Atlantic Realty Partners in partnership with Kaufman Capital Partners is planning to redevelop the shopping center in Doraville once known as Friday's Plaza.  The firms plan to demolish more than two thirds of the mostly vacant nearly 130,000 square foot shopping center and redevelop it as a multifamily project that planning documents recently filed with the City of Doraville suggest will bring at least 300 apartments to the property.  
Through their subsidiary, Atlantic Residential, Atlanta-based Atlantic Realty Partners has developed a number of multifamily developments in Atlanta and around the county.  Locally, the firm's projects include high-rise apartment buildings Cyan on Peachtree in Buckhead (the redevelopment of Dante's Down The Hatch) and Azure on the Park in Midtown, as well as garden style and mid-rise apartment communities under the "Reserve" branding in Johns Creek, Decatur, Atlanta and near SunTrust Park, as well as the recently completed Lumen Grant Park on Memorial Drive, among others.  

The approximately 13 acre Doraville site sits along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, bounded by Van Fleet Circle and Tilly  Mill Road, just outside I-285.

The existing shopping center is now just 25% occupied with five tenants.  Approximately 93,000 square feet of the center would be demolished. The remaining 4.8 acres with approximately 37,000 square feet of existing space would remain in place.  Wellpet Humane Animal Hospital, which occupies a 16,650 square foot space, would be the major tenant to remain in place.

Out-parcel establishments Jimmy's Tequila & Carnes, a Mexican steakhouse, and Oasis Goodtime Emporium, an adult entertainment venue, are nearby, but not part of the center and are not expected to close but will likely be affected by the redevelopment around them.  (Prior to Jimmy's, the restaurant was Barnacle's, and before that it was Bennigan's, which like Friday's, was once a popular restaurant chain.)

Property records indicate that the nearly 13 acre shopping center was built in 1985 and sold in 1987 for about $12.8 million.  It was purchased in early 2016 by Kaufman for only $6.5 million.  

Current ownership adopted the name "The Village at Tilly Mill Crossing" in recent years, given that TGI Friday's, long one of the center's most popular attractions, has been closed for about two decades.  (The AMC series Lodge 49 filmed portions of their second season in the former restaurant space in March.)

Another one of the center's more popular attractions was the Six screen movie theater known as the Cineplex Odeon Friday's Plaza Cinema.  The theater opened in 1986 and closed in 2000.  

Kaufman describes the property: "Formerly known as “Friday’s Plaza,” this Doraville, Georgia shopping center is located on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at Tilly Mill Road just outside the Perimeter (I-285), and has historically served the north metro Atlanta communities.  For decades, this was a successful shopping center but the previous owner lost an anchor tenant and the property spiraled downward.  We purchased this property for less than its previous mortgage and are currently evaluating value creation plans."  

Prior to Kaufman's purchase of the property, local sources indicate that Home Depot was under contract to relocate their store from across the street to shopping center property, but abandoned their plans in 2009 amidst the financial crisis.  

Marketing materials suggest that over 120,000 vehicles drive by the property daily.


Planning documents indicate that current plans are to construct two residential buildings of between three and five stories.  "The proposed redevelopment would have between 305 and 320 dwelling units, comprised of (1) 60%-70% one-bedroom units ranging from 550 to 825 square feet, (2) 20%-30% two-bedroom units ranging from 1025 to 1225 square feet, and (3) 5%-10% three-bedroom units ranging from 1200 to 1450 square feet," the plans say. 

Are you pleased by the proposed redevelopment of Friday's Plaza?  Would you be interested in living in the apartments being proposed?  Did you ever eat at TGI Friday's or go the the movie theater?

Please share your thoughts below.  

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I drive by here and it doesn't affect me too much. I think it's a good plan. Clearly, this has been a pretty dead area for retail and restaurants for the last 20 years. The apartments on the other side of PIB don't impress me much, so I wonder if these will be nice and stay nice.

Anonymous said...

At least they're activating the residential street even though there won't be a lot of nail salon and dry cleaners cluttering up the place it looks like. I've never driven past this place less than 50 miles an hour.

Anonymous said...

So ... no mention of the overly used word "luxury", which means the apartments will attract those that currently live in the area. Prediction that this housing development will deteriorate more rapidly than those meant to attract higher incomes that would gentrify the area. Pass.

Anonymous said...

What school district is this property in? Whenever I see a large apartment project planned, I cringe for all the additional children who will be crammed into trailers at the overcrowded DeKalb Schools on the north side.

Anonymous said...

Hightower Elementary / Peachtree Middle / Dunwoody High

Anonymous said...

Apartments with barking dogs on one side a strip club on the other and overlooking a highway. That'll work.

Anonymous said...

Always thought it would've been a great re-location for the Home Depot across the street. Interesting that it almost was!

Anonymous said...

How many of the apartments are allocated to Section 8 housing?

Anonymous said...

It's a perfectly good-looking retail space that was pretty recently remodeled and painted. Seems a shame to just bulldoze it down after all that work. A little more patience and all the development crawling through Chamblee and up Peachtree Industrial will certainly bring renewed business interest to it. Apartment And residential space in this area seems to be getting oversaturated, I would by no means say it's a surer bet for success... especially being directly next to a strip club.

Disneypal said...

Doraville often seems to have big plans for things that never seem to come to fruition. It would be nice to have a new apartment complex in the area...however, it would be right next door to the Oasis club, not sure how appealing it would be to live next door to it. I guess time will tell.

Buddy's Mom said...

I would ask Oasis to relocate and build a new high school on this property. It would solve the over crowding in the public high school arena.
This is one of the last large pieces of land in this area. Please use it wisely!

Unknown said...

This shopping center is definitely underdeveloped at this time. As long as the leave WellPet and The PawStand alone I approve redevelopment. If they put low end stuff in there it will be an huge disappointment. I would think it would support more diverse development other than just apartments. A decently deli, midscale restaurant. Great traffic by there and easy on-off exit. Please just don't throw up more apartments.

Anonymous said...

Oh great, moe divershity in that once-happy-prosperous-safe-clean area. Remember the Days......

Anonymous said...

@4/5 11:48: Peachtree and Dunwoody are already way over capacity. So that is kind of what I'm afraid of. They just leveled all the trees at the corner of Vermack and Womack to add another round of trailers at Dunwoody High. They should just rename it "Trailer High"

Anonymous said...

Please stop throwing up apartments everywhere!!! Our schools are suffering! Traffic is already impossible. Where are our city/county government representatives? And why are they not looking out for the residents interests and quality of life? Enough is enough!!!

Anonymous said...

Oasis is the only business that is profitable on that corner....

Echoes of the Past Shoppe said...

Wrong, The Pawstand is very successful.

Unknown said...

I would love to live there. That would be home sweet home that close to my Oasis

Anonymous said...

But you don't mind the strip club in the parking lot or the eyesore of the deserted former strip mall (not confused with strip club)? These won't be Section 8 type dwellings based on their other properties throughout Buckhead, Midtown, etc....they will be small, overpriced and if you have been in that area you would know $400k townhomes have popped up on the other side of 285 and the plans for the old GM site will hopefully get going soon. News flash, moderate to low income folks have the need and right to housing!!! Affordable housing especially now is needed and does not necessarily have the negative impact to which you allude. Gentrification is code for vanilla, remove all diversity, cookie cutter, homogeneous dwellings, store fronts, restaurants, etc.

Anonymous said...

I worked at both TGI Friday's and the movie theater back in the 80s. I'm in town for a class reunion and was bummed to see it all gone.

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