Historic Downtown Department Store Transforming Into Entertainment Hub: The Atlanta Deal Sheet
The operators of a Downtown Atlanta speakeasy and Neopolitan pizzeria are turning a historic former department store into an entertainment destination.
RPB Management Group is nearing completion on four new eatery and entertainment concepts in the former Regenstein’s Department Store at the corner of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Peachtree Street.
With these four new spaces, RPB wants to transform 207 Peachtree St. into a 45K SF entertainment hub. The property, owned by New York-based Marx Realty, underwent a $10.5M renovation in 2017 after the space sat empty for more than three decades.
Here are the four concepts set to open:
- American Dive will be a live music Southern barbecue joint.
- Peachtree Sports Club will be an upscale sports bar complete with a 20-foot TV wall.
- Ire Rooftop Lounge will be a rooftop bar with views of the Atlanta skyline.
- The Grand Ballroom will be a 10K SF event space for more than 300 guests.
All will open this spring in time for the FIFA World Cup 2026 games in Atlanta, according to a press release.
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Popular grocer Trader Joe’s is planning to open a store at Toro Development Co.’s Medley mixed-use development in Johns Creek. Other tenants at Medley’s 150K SF retail lineup include Shake Shack, Kontour Medical Spa and Northern China Eatery.
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Department store retailer Nordstrom Inc. is opening its discount retail Nordstrom Rack in a 28K SF space in Atlantic Station, the mixed-use destination in Midtown owned by Hines. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that the retailer will take over the former DSW shoe store space.
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New York-based vintage women’s apparel retailer LoveShackFancy is opening its first Georgia store at Buckhead Village this year. The retailer is taking 2,100 SF next door to the newly opened Maeve clothing store.
DEVELOPMENT
Dream Capital Management and Five Star Group closed on a downtown Decatur site and are moving forward at the AC Hotels by Marriott location at 701 Church St., Urbanize Atlanta reported.
The developers plan to raze the one-story structure and build a six-story, 148-room hotel with a restaurant and a rooftop terrace, according to Urbanize Atlanta. Bull Realty’s Michael Wess brokered the purchase.
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Suwanee-based engineering firm Genesis Engineering Collaborative filed an application to redevelop the popular Publix Super Markets store in the Peachtree Battle shopping center. According to the application, workers will tear down the existing 33,500 SF Publix and replace it with a 49K SF “elevated grocery store with a ground-level parking garage.”
Messages to Peachtree Battle’s landlord, Branch Properties, and to Publix were not returned as of press time.
SALES
Ares Management purchased 410 Horizon Drive, a 247K SF distribution center in Suwanee, for $38M from Link Logistics, according to documents filed with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority database.
Link purchased it in 2021 for $30M, according to Gwinnett County property records.
Ares also purchased 500 Interstate West Parkway in Cobb County for $21.8M from Link Logistics, according to the cooperative database. Link had purchased the 196K SF flex industrial property in 2017 for $11.6M, according to Cobb County property records.
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Atlanta-based Freestone Real Estate bought 5780 Powers Ferry Road, a 400K SF office complex, from Voya Investment Management for $32.9M, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported.
Voya leased back 80K SF of the space through 2027. CBRE’s Will Yowell and Newmark’s Jay O’Meara brokered the sale.
Freestone is eyeing the complex’s redevelopment, which sits on more than 48 acres, the ABC reported.
FINANCING
The city of Roswell helped arrange a $49M commercial property assessed clean energy loan for Alpharetta-based DTR Hospitality to develop The Hotel Chambray, a five-story, 125-room Hyatt JdV Collection hotel, according to documents in the cooperative database.
The C-PACE loan was provided by Nuveen Green Capital through the city’s Roswell Development Finance Program, according to Visit Roswell. The hotel will be built by DSM Real Estate Partners.
PERSONNEL
Craig Taylor has joined Ackerman & Co. as senior vice president for its retail division, focused on the investment sales of unanchored and shadow-anchored shopping centers. Taylor spent more than 25 years at CBRE, where he closed almost 200 sales valued at more than $1.3B.
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Emily Sircy has been named senior vice president of asset services with Transwestern, tasked with overseeing the property management, engineering and accounting of a 17M SF CRE portfolio. Sircy is replacing Russell Lipscomb, who is retiring in March.
Sircy joined Transwestern in 2010 after a stint at Hines.
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Design firm Populous has tapped industry veterans Rob Svedberg and Lee Pollock to head up its new Atlanta office.
Svedberg was most previously with TVSDesign, where he assisted in completing $6B in projects. Pollock, named senior urban designer, served as a principal with Jacobs for more than 12 years.
