Peachtree Corners Buys Former CinéBistro: The Atlanta Deal Sheet

The city of Peachtree Corners is under contract to buy a defunct luxury movie theater to control how the site will be used in the future.

The Peachtree Corners City Council on Tuesday approved a contract to buy the former CMX CinéBistro theater at the mixed-use Town Center project for $3.25M. The city is expected to close on the 33K SF building on a little more than 2 acres after a due diligence process, according to a press release.

The purchase settles a mounting issue between Town Center developer and owner Fuqua Development and Peachtree Corners on what to do with the vacant movie theater that shuttered in December, according to the release.

"Some of the uses Fuqua explored did not align with the city’s vision for Town Center and raised concerns among city council,” the city said in the release. “Because the city did not own the property at the time, it had limited ability to influence or prevent uses that would not have met the community’s expectations for this central location.”

The city said Fuqua Development founder Jeff Fuqua approached it about purchasing the theater.

“Ownership of the property will ensure that any redevelopment or reuse is consistent with the City’s long-term direction for Town Center,” it said. 

Neither Fuqua nor Mayor Mike Mason responded to requests for comment. 

Fuqua developed the 250K SF project in 2017, and it has since become a lynchpin of Peachtree Corners civic life, including a town green. The city did not reveal specific plans for the property but said it was consulting industry and design professionals for a feasibility study on the theater’s possible reuse or complete redevelopment. 

“This is about protecting and strengthening the heart of our community. Town Center is a gathering place for our residents, and we want to make sure this property is used in a way that adds to that experience,” Mason said in the release.

SALES

A 1031 exchange investor has picked up a 4,500 SF retail store leased to the telecommunications giant Verizon for $3.14M. A Fort Lauderdale-based LLC titled VZ GA purchased the Verizon store at 4791 Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway in Paulding County from Florida-based Winston Weinstein LLC, according to tax records filed with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority database.

Both parties are 1031 exchange entities, according to a press release from Marcus & Millichap. Winston Weinstein purchased the building in 2012 for a little more than $2M, according to Paulding property records.

Marcus & Millichap’s Sam Malato, Dominic Sulo and John Leonard brokered the sale.

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North Carolina-based UAC Investments II LLC bought Avondale Reserve Apartment Homes for $15.6M from a Nashville-based LLC titled 2MDS Investments, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. 

2MDS purchased the property, located in Avondale Estates, in 2016 for $6M, according to the ABC. 

DEVELOPMENT

Portman Holdings is planning a sprawling mixed-use project in Duluth on more than 110 acres along McClure Bridge Road, according to a filing with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which evaluates proposed projects that will have a regional impact on infrastructure. 

Portman, the storied Atlanta development firm that recently completed Spring Quarter in Midtown, is looking to include 1,400 apartment units, townhouses and single-family houses, 80K SF of commercial space, and 100K SF of medical office space, according to the application. 

The project is slated to deliver in 2031. Portman did not respond to a request for comment.

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Emory University has applied to the city of Atlanta to move forward on converting the former Peachtree-Pine Shelter into affordable workforce housing for its healthcare employees at Emory University Hospital Midtown.

The university filed an application to begin work on the interior of the 93K SF structure at 477 Peachtree St. to convert it into 56 apartment units for $5.1M. The application comes more than eight years after the homeless shelter was permanently shuttered. Last summer, Emory announced plans to convert the historic building into workforce housing after buying the facility in 2018.

According to the application, the redevelopment will include street-level commercial space, and part of the building at 489 Peachtree would be razed to help facilitate light and air flow along the north facade of the former shelter. 

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A Peachtree Corners-based developer is looking to build a massive mixed-use community in Barrow County. 

Towns Brothers Spalding is proposing to develop 512 single-family lots, 550 apartment units and 350K SF of commercial, office and restaurant space on 345 acres at 664 Covered Bridge Road in Hoschton, according to a development of regional impact application filed by the county with the state’s community affairs department. 

The project, if approved, is slated to be delivered by 2032, according to the application. 

LEASES

California-based Omnissa signed a 56K SF lease for the third floor at 6303 Barfield Road, a two-building, 236K SF office complex known as The Barfield, the ABC reported. The complex was the former home to IBM, which vacated the facility in 2025.

The company currently occupies space at 1155 Perimeter Center West nearby, according to the ABC. 

JLL’s Jeff Bellamy represented the landlord, Drawbridge Realty, while CBRE’s Nima Ghomghani and Paul Holmes brokered the deal for Omnissa.