Retail Centers Co-Owned By Former Congressman's Widow Sold For 1,000-Unit Redevelopment
Two Greenbriar-area shopping centers co-owned by the widow of the late Georgia Rep. Pat Swindall are being sold to a New York developer who plans to redevelop them into a mixed-use project.
Mural Real Estate Partners plans to redevelop Greenbriar Marketplace and the Shoppes at Greenbriar at 2925 and 2975 Headland Drive with more than 1,000 multifamily units and 250K SF of new retail space.
Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development arm, approved a $5M acquisition loan Thursday to the developer to acquire the centers, which sit on 24 acres. Invest Atlanta spokesperson Katrina Highsmith-Johnson said in an email that the vote to approve the loan was unanimous. The loan proceeds are coming from the Campbellton tax allocation district.
The two shopping centers are co-owned by Kimberly Swindall and Heritage Capitol Partners in a 50/50 split, Heritage Capitol principal Joe Ashkouti confirmed to Bisnow.
“We’ve owned it for a long time, and we just felt it was time to move on,” Ashkouti said. “This group [Mural] is going to redevelop it, and it’s going to be great for the area and the market.”
Swindall's husband served two terms as a Republican in the U.S. Congress from 1985 to 1989 before becoming involved in real estate. He died in 2018 at the age of 67.
Ashkouti, who did not disclose the terms of the sale, said he expects the transaction will close next month. According to Invest Atlanta, Mural is paying a little more than $31M for the two shopping centers, $22.7M in land costs and $4.7M in predevelopment soft costs.
The nearly $600M project is set to be developed in two phases between the start of 2027 and the end of 2030, according to Invest Atlanta. The developer has vowed to reserve 15% of residential units to households earning up to 80% of the area median income and 20% of its retail and commercial space to local independent businesses.
In January, Mural — under the moniker “Project Nexus” — obtained a more than $500M bond incentive to help save more than $23M in property taxes over the course of the bond’s life, according to Select Fulton, the economic development arm of the Fulton County government. While Mural and the two Greenbriar shopping centers were not identified during the inducement, Ashkouti confirmed that Mural’s redevelopment is “Project Nexus.”
County officials at the time said the project, off the south side of Interstate 20 in East Point, would be a “pivotal investment” in the area that has “historically been underserved,” WSB-TV previously reported.
“The mixed-use project, combining residential and retail elements, would be poised to boost the local tax base substantially. Development leaders estimate that, once completed, the site would generate more than $60.5 million in revenue over 10 years—30 times its current contribution,” Develop Fulton officials told WSB at the time.
“It’s been a great shopping center for us. But I think it’s just time for that area to see some redevelopment,” Ashkouti said. “It’s been starving for some new development like this.”
Mural CEO Robin Zeigler did not respond to an email seeking comment as of press time.
Pat Swindall may best be known for his political downfall. The late congressman spent nearly a year in a minimum security prison after being convicted in 1989 of lying to a federal grand jury over a money laundering investigation.
In 2016, Luxotica, eyeglass maker of brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, sued the Swindalls for allowing retail vendors to sell counterfeit merchandise at Greenbriar Marketplace, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported at the time. The parties settled the dispute a year later.
Ashkouti acknowledged the problems with counterfeit goods at the center.
“It's always been an ongoing issue. But every time something arises, we crack down and make it stop,” he said. “We’ve been on the phone with Homeland Security a few times, but I haven’t heard of an issue for the past 12 months.”
