‘The Sooner We Start’: Gwinnett Place CID Eager To Begin Redevelopment Of Dead Mall

Several commercial centers located along Interstate 85 in Georgia’s Gwinnett County support thousands of jobs and contribute billions of dollars to local and state coffers. But only one is accomplishing this while also contending with a major impediment in the form of a 39-acre parcel of largely vacant, non-revenue-generating land.

Each year, businesses in the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District generate $7.5B in sales and pay more than $2B in wages and benefits to Gwinnett Place-based employees in the fast-growing Metro Atlanta county. Gwinnett Place’s estimated annual economic impact on the state is $15.9B.

And yet the 2,000–acre GPCID, representing less than 1% of Gwinnett County land area, achieves all that with the nearly vacant Gwinnett Place regional mall at its center. To Joe Allen, GPCID executive director, it is clear that the district’s full potential is yet to be achieved — and that the time to act to allow the area to attain its promise is now.

Allen said if the mall site is redeveloped for mixed-use as the community envisioned in a 2023 implementation strategy, its contribution to the economic benefits generated by the other big commercial districts on Gwinnett County’s stretch of I-85 — including Gateway85 CID, Sugarloaf CID and Mall of Georgia — would increase exponentially.

“Gwinnett Place CID is already punching above its weight,” Allen said. “By creating a new urban core at the old mall site, we could blow that $15.9B economic impact out of the water, elevate property values and spread a halo of benefits to surrounding areas in the county.”

Gwinnett’s I-85 corridor is a great asset for recruiting, retaining and supporting industries such as manufacturing, supply chain and technology, and as a location for corporate headquarters, Allen said. Well-planned public-private development is a proven model for success and Gwinnett Place is “ripe” for it, he added.

Ripe, but still growing. Allen said Gwinnett Place accounts for nearly 9% of all jobs within the county, spread across small, medium and large businesses providing professional services, manufacturing, retail and healthcare.

Taxes paid by local businesses and property owners contribute approximately $200M in recurring revenues to the State of Georgia, Gwinnett County government, local schools and municipalities. 

“With corporate giants such as Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA and Kaiser Permanente, as well as local startups within our boundaries, greater Gwinnett Place remains Gwinnett’s central business district and its economic engine,” Allen said. 

Gwinnett Place is home to 62 buildings that are 100K SF or larger, more than 2.5M SF of Class-A office space, 3.1M SF of Class-B offices and 15.7M SF of industrial space. Gwinnett Place also has a young, diverse population, with 70% of its residents younger than the age of 45. Nearly 40% of its residents are foreign-born, resulting in a global mix of diverse businesses catering to many different ethnic groups’ tastes.

When Gwinnett Place’s advantages, from its strategic I-85 location to its existing amenities, talent pool and infrastructure, are taken into account, the potential for further growth in the area becomes clear, Allen said. 

However, he noted that the economic impact study GPCID released last year warned of missed opportunities if action is not taken to implement the community's vision for the mall site, dubbed the Global Villages plan. Unveiled in 2023 after extensive study and community outreach, the plan proposed the development of as many as 3,800 new residential units, 50K SF of office space, 55K SF of new retail, a 50K SF cultural center and nearly 13 acres of parkland. 

The study cautioned that a significant delay in beginning the redevelopment process could result in the loss of millions of dollars in potential public revenues and thousands of jobs. 

“The sooner we start investing, the sooner we get to see returns in terms of revenues and new jobs,” Allen said.

While construction hasn't yet begun on the former mall site, the county took a major step forward in March when it chose CBRE to be its partner in bringing new life to the 39-acre parcel. CBRE will help Gwinnett County advance a transformative redevelopment plan at the Gwinnett Place Mall site and move the project forward.

In the interim, Allen said the CID is pleased that this important first step had been taken.

“The Gwinnett Place CID is excited to have CBRE as the project management team to lead the Gwinnett Place Mall redevelopment,” he said. “The announcement is a major milestone in our shared efforts to create a vibrant and economically prosperous future for the mall site. Now, the real work begins as we continue our partnership to turn plans into reality.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.