Tucker's Northlake Mall has a new owner and it's not who many might have expected. The mall, purchased in February 2016 by Dallas-based ATR Corinth Partners, lost its three remaining retail anchors in the years since - Sears (2018), JCPenney (2020) and Macy's (2026) - and redevelopment plans have progressed slower than anyone would have liked.
Dallas-based ATR Corinth Partners has multiple times iterated its plans as micro and macro challenges, as well as the pandemic, forced the firm to reevaluate their redevelopment plans for the circa 1971 mall. The firm owns the former JCPenney and Sears parcels, but was reportedly never able to come to terms on the Macy's property with Kroger also reportedly interested but unable to get the deal done.
Together with developer Trammell Crow, ATR spoke in 2025 of building nearly 500 apartment units on primarily the JCPenney parcel at the mall property. The plans were presented only as a development update and were never part of a formal rezoning request.
Enter Emory Healthcare. The local hospital is an affiliate of Emory University and leased the former Sears and Kohl's "boxes" primarily for administrative and training uses, in doing so making it the property's primary anchor.
Now, Emory is reportedly the mystery buyer of the entire property, according to multiple well-placed sources who spoke to ToNeTo Atlanta on the condition of anonymity given the deal has not yet been made public.
The research and hospital arm of Emory University, Emory Healthcare benefits from the more than $11 billion endowment of the university. Although a purchase price has not yet been revealed, it's worth noting that ATR paid $30 million for Northlake and Forest Mall in Fond du Lac, WI. (ATR partially demolished Forest Mall and sold part to grocer Meijer for an as yet unbuilt mega store and another part to Froedtert ThedaCare Health, which opened a new hospital on the site of the former mall in April of last year.)
DeKalb County property records indicate that the property - in two parcels - was appraised for a combined approximately $11.4 million by the county for tax year 2025.
Tenants inside the Northlake Mall like Challenges, which relocated from the now demolished North DeKalb Mall in 2023, were reportedly informed May 29 that the mall had been sold and that they had 30 days to vacate. This news was first reported by Decaturish. While it's unfortunate that Challenges owner Tony Cade and the roughly dozen or so other small businesses are being forced to relocate, sources to whom we spoke suggest that they were all on short-term leases or otherwise below market rents that provided affordable rents with the caveat that the developer had "kick out" clauses should they wish to pivot their redevelopment plans. That "worst case scenario" is now a reality.
Interestingly, Stamp & Coin, the mall's longest running, continuously operating tenant, relocated from their longtime space within the mall to a newly built outparcel building last March, which at the time seemed ill-advised but now may have saved the business from being forced to move.
This past February Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q [finally] opened in a newly built outparcel, which along with CDC Federal Credit Union, Dugan's, EscovitcheZ, and Foot Locker, all have exterior access (i.e. are not "in" the mall). Each reportedly has a long-term lease and therefore is unaffected by the evictions facing the interior tenants.
It's unclear how soon Emory could look to expand its presence at the property or what exactly those plans could look like but an actual hospital seems highly possible and would be a boon to the Tucker area. It also remains to be seen who the buyer of the Macy's property will be with Emory seemingly now the frontrunner.
For now our thoughts are with the small businesses looking for new space. If you have space available (and affordable), please post details in the comments.
What are your thoughts on this development? Are you excited at the prospect of a fully functioning hospital in Tucker? What's your favorite memory of Northlake Mall?
Please share your thoughts below.
5 comments:
I remember when I first moved to Atlanta area in 1977, Northlake was the first mall I visited. I used to love the Farrells Ice Cream restaurant there. Even to this day, my Dentist has his office in a building across the street from the old Sears auto center.
If a hospital was built on the property, it would definitely spark a revitalization of the Northlake Towers shopping center across the way, as a lot of Doctor's offices and medical facilities would open there.
Speaking of vacancies, I'm curious about Holly Berry Cosentino's rare commercial parcel in the heart of Oak Grove. They tore the signage down a few weeks ago.
Record bar was a great store for the 70’s. Family use to eat dinner at the Picadilly which was located on the upper level by Sears.
Every so often, a car dealership put cars inside the mall. Vividly remember seeing MGs and Triumphs on display.
Watched the mall be constructed from the ground up.
I went to the Northlake Macy's a few months ago and could see the writing on the wall. The employees allowed me to smoke cigarettes while I shopped. That was nice and relaxing but it also made me realize how no one cared what went on in the mall.
I certainly hope whatever Emory does with the property not only boosts the community but adds to the diversity.
The few times I go there, it's just hard to make sense of it b/c it's just a gargantuan, super-dull office space, and you can't stop thinking of the hub of 'life' that it was 30+ years ago. It's almost as interesting as if it had just been turned into a huge telecom data center. Imo it would have been interesting if all or part had been demolished, maybe turned into upscale townhouses or small-lot houses. The tire center is a real eyesore. Can't Emory do something with that area of the property? Maybe that building could be turned into the 'historic Sears lofts' (but I'm not sure if that building is substantial, or just girders and thin metal exterior walls...)
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