Sunday, July 21, 2024

[ALERT] Whole Foods, Whataburger Planned for Forsyth, Lidl May Finally Open!

After hearing talk of a planned Whole Foods Market in south Forsyth County for several weeks, we now have confirmation that the grocer is in fact in talks for a new store in the area.  The new Whole Foods would anchor a new project planned by Fuqua Development (dba Fuqua Acquisitions II, LLC) to the east of The Collection at Forsyth along Ronald Reagan Boulevard, behind an existing RaceTrac.  

The project, which does not yet have an official name, would span more than 35 acres and include not only Whole Foods but also a 114-key hotel, a Whataburger restaurant, a new Audi dealership, potentially a self-storage facility, and various other retail and restaurant spaces.  The property has long been owned by Lido Holdngs, LLC, an entity controlled by members of the Orkin [pest control] family.      

Ethan Underwood with Miles Hansford, LLC, the attorney representing Fuqua Development, told the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners (BOC) in a July 18 meeting that the developer is "in discussions to finally bring a Whole Foods to Forsyth County."  The Amazon-owned grocer would presumably occupy the 35,500 square foot anchor space marked simply "grocery" on the developer's current site plan.  (A Life Time  athletic club was reportedly set to anchor a previous version of Fuqua's planned development.) 

The new Whole Foods would be the first to open in metro Atlanta in more than five years.  The next closest Whole Foods, which opened October 14, 2014, is about ten miles south at Avalon in Alpharetta.  The Amazon-owned grocery store currently has twelve locations in Georgia: eleven in metro Atlanta plus one in Savannah.  The grocer previously closed stores on Briarcliff Road near Emory University, in Marietta near the Big Chicken (Harry's Farmers Market), in Roswell (Harry's Farmers Market), in Duluth (Harry's Farmers Market) and in Augusta.  

Fuqua previously developed Kennesaw Marketplace at the corner of Barrett Parkway and Cobb Parkway, which according to Whole Foods, served as the "relocation" of the Marietta Harry's.  Whole Foods Market opened their new 46,000 square foot store at the center on October 6, 2017

Whole Foods opened its 500th overall store April 5, 2019 on 14th Street in Midtown Atlanta. The 70,000 square foot store served as a "replacement" for the popular Briarcliff store (the grocer's first store in the market), which closed in March 2019.  

Landing a Whole Foods would be a significant coup for Forsyth County given a Trader Joe's is also planned for phase two of Halcyon nearby.   

In addition to Whole Foods, Underwood confirmed that a new Whataburger is also planned as part of the project, which would provide the Texas-based chain a highly sought after location in the area.  The company entered metro Atlanta in November 2022 with a store in Kennesaw and currently operates 20 locations in Georgia.  In April 2023, a Whataburger opened at Lakeland Plaza, a little less than four miles away from the newly proposed location.  The new Whataburger would presumably occupy the 2,900 square foot drive-thru building marked "restaurant" on the developer's site plan.  

A separate freestanding drive-thru enabled building measures only 960 square feet and is likely to be a coffee shop like Tim Horton's, Dutch Bros., Scooters, 7 Brew, Starbucks, etc.  

The planned Audi dealership would occupy about 8.8 acres and be operated by Baranco Automotive Group (J&G Baranco Holdings, LLC), a longtime automotive dealership family in Atlanta and owners of Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead. 

A new Chipotle Mexican Grill is also expected to be part of the development, according to a real estate source with knowledge of the project's leasing efforts.  The Newport Beach, California-based burrito joint recently surpassed more than 100 locations in Georgia.  

A 2.76 acre property is also identified on the site plan as a 114-key hotel with another 4.5 acre parcel identified as climate-controlled self-storage or office. 

In May, Fuqua brought the proposed Audi dealership to the BOC and in July presented their overall project.  In both cases they sought landscape and parking variances which after some discussion and clarification were unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners.  

Fuqua Development, led by Jeff Fuqua, has developed several high profile projects in metro Atlanta over the past few years including Madison Yards in Atlanta, The Exchange at Gwinnett in Buford, and The Battery Atlanta at Truist Park.  

Fuqua had sought to develop a more than 76 acre property about four miles south, on the west side of Peachtree Parkway at the intersection with Brookwood Road. After several years of planning, the project was "withdrawn without prejudice" in April 2020.  

In other Forsyth grocery news, a Lidl store that was built but abandoned more than two years ago may finally open!  The would-be Lidl at 4325 Bethelview Road is currently listed on the Lidl website as a "store under construction" with the company actively recruiting for an Assistant Store Manger, among other roles.  

Are you excited about the planned Whole Foods Market in South Forsyth?  Where do you do the majority of your grocery shopping?  What other shops or restaurants would you like to see open in this development?

Please share your thoughts below. 

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking at Google maps, wouldn't the new Whole Foods development be to the south of the Collection at Forsyth?

Alex said...

Eli, what's your impression of Lidl's long term viability here in metro-Atlanta? I like them, but whenever I'm in one, it's pretty empty.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: location,

We believe the developer and the map are accurate in their reference of the project's location being to the east of The Collection.

Atlantan99 said...

@Alex RE: Lidl,

Great question! They definitely have some stores that are doing better than others. They have in recent weeks put the brakes on several more Atlanta area stores and really only have two - Cumming and Interlock in West Midtown - moving forward at this point.

Anonymous said...

I’m honestly surprised that there will be a Whole Foods in Forsyth County but not one in Gwinnett County. Also, what’s going on with the Johns Creek Whole Foods that is located just across the Chattahoochee from Duluth, on State Bridge Road? The last time I was in there, which was a month or so ago, the place was dead and they’d done some rearranging so there was a lot of wide open empty floor space. Even one of the hot bar/salad bar counters was covered up. Whole Foods says the store is still open but I can’t imagine it’s going to last. Seems like a few Whole Foods store have been simplifying their hot bars and/or using fewer hot bar counters and the Merchants Walk Whole Foods has even reduced its hours

Mary Ellen said...

We would love to have a Whole Foods at that location. We moved from Illinois where there was a Whole Foods about 15 minutes from our home. We did 90% of our grocery shopping at that Whole Foods. Now we are in North Forsyth and we have to drive to the Avalon. So, needless to say we hardly ever get out to shop at Whole Foods. Would love to have one close to us and start shopping there again. :)

Anonymous said...

Whole Foods is way too expensive. But living intown, I sure would like to see Ingle's come in and give Publix and Kroger a little competition.

Anonymous said...

@Atlantan99 RE: We believe the developer and the map are accurate in their reference of the project's location being to the east of The Collection.

If that's the case, then it couldn't possibly be behind the RaceTrac because the RaceTrac is south of the Collection at Forsyth. The Racetrac is on SW corner of Ronald Reagan Blvd and Peachtree Pkwy and the Collection is on the NW corner. The reference to the project being located behind the RaceTrac in the article is confusing.

Anonymous said...

Theres an ingles right of hwy 13…

Anonymous said...

Man, Whataburger is really saturating the market. There's another Whataburger one exit north

Is this Forsyth getting the Whataburger that was destined for Mansell Rd. in Alpharetta that the city denied, or is there still a chance we'll get one down here in Fulton County?

Anonymous said...

The one on North Druid Hills always smells like there is a problem with the bathroom plumbing.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see quality eateries ( NOT junk food) with live music between exit 14 and 18 off 400. I would also love for Rubios to locate to North Georgia. They left Cali due to inflation. Rubios is a high quality Mexican food chain that serves healthy, fresh, and delicious food.

Anonymous said...

Wish it would come up 400 , that would be nice .

Anonymous said...

Would really love to get a Whataburger in or on the Perimeter. The old Wells Fargo building next to McDonald’s on Ashford dunwoody in dunwoody is the perfect location. Also, there’s that former bank diagonally across the street near the new Chase. I know they’ve used that many times to shoot Movies however I didn’t notice a sale sign up there last week. Also somewhere on the parking lot of the mall anyway what a burger What a burger. Admittedly, it’s not the healthiest food by any measure however, I would recommend to enjoy in moderation maybe once a month if that

Anonymous said...

Aw here we go, WhataburgerWhataburgerWhataburgerWhataburger ad nauseum.

Anonymous said...

Tupelo Honey is an awesome restaurant (Greenvill, SC). Sure hope they will consider moving into North Fulton/South Forsyth areas.

Anonymous said...

Trader Joes!

Praveen Manthena said...

East- as author mentioned

Anonymous said...

There’s one coming in Alpharetta as well as this one

Anonymous said...

I am extremely excited about Wholefoods! I go to the one in Avalon on a weekly basis. I would love to see plant based and healthier restaurants come to Cumming.

Anonymous said...

Cumming needs a Whole Foods as well as healthier options for restaurants.

Anonymous said...

Love Whole Foods!!! Can't wait! Would love to see more plant based restaurant options.

Anonymous said...

I am happy the a Whole Foods is coming to FC. We need healthier options here. Too many burger and junk food options.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! I knew something wasn’t quite right.

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