This month ATR Corinth Partners announced Emory Healthcare as the newest anchor tenant at Northlake Mall, leasing 224,000 square feet of space, in the former Sears building, in the soon-to-be “reimagined” Northlake. The 1 million-square-foot shopping mall opened in 1971 and was acquired by ATR Corinth Partners in 2016.

“We’re excited to have such a well-regarded institution as our first anchor tenant for this project,” said CID stakeholder Tony Ruggeri, partner with Texas-based ATR Corinth Partners. “Emory’s presence will add more day time traffic to an already vibrant residential community surrounding the project. It’s a winning formula to support retail and restaurants, which has worked for us in previous mall redevelopments.”

“Our lease with Emory signifies the start of reimagining the former mall as ‘Northlake,’ a dynamic mixed-use development incorporating office, medical, retail and restaurants,” remarked Frank Mihalopoulos, partner with ATR Corinth Partners. “We want to provide retail and restaurant options, along with welcoming gathering spaces, to reconnect the community with Northlake as a place to spend time with family and friends.”

Mike Mason, Emory Healthcare Vice President of Operations said, “Northlake gives us the opportunity to centralize corporate support services in one location for more than 1,600 employees while providing the additional benefit of direct access to on-site amenities like restaurants and retail, the property’s central location combined with easy highway and MARTA bus access, along with necessary parking also helped Emory Healthcare make the decision to lease with Northlake.”

While additional leases are not being announced at this time the owners have stated that “while additional leases are not being announced at this time, the property will see additional office space, new retail, and a mix of sit-down, fast casual, and quick-service restaurant concepts. Construction of the retail portion of the project is slated to begin in early 2020.” JCPenney and Macy’s will remain as anchor tenants and both will be open during construction.

Emory Healthcare isn’t the only group that sees the wisdom of investing in the Northlake end of Tucker. “More and more businesses are choosing to locate in the Northlake district” said Matthew Lee, Executive Director of the Tucker-Northlake CID. “With immediate access to I-285 from three exits, abundant parking, affordable leases, and surrounded by a strong residential community, the area make sense for employees and for the bottom line.”