New project near Phipps Plaza, major renovation planned

Simon Property Group plans to build a mixed-use project in Buckhead, with retail, residences and a hotel near its Phipps Plaza mall, the developer announced Tuesday.

The project would follow a major renovation of Phipps Plaza, according to mall manager Dewayne Herbert, who said more details on the project will come within 60 days.

Herbert said the project would be separate from Phipps, but it would be on mall property, which is across from Lenox Square mall and the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead. The project would include A luxury storefront, 320 luxury residential units and a 164-room hotel. Herbert wouldn’t name the hotel brand.

“We should be able to share something soon,” Herbert told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The work at Phipps, which will begin this summer and be completed by the holiday season, will be the 45-year-old mall’s first major renovation since 1992.

“This (renovation) is more about improving the customer experience and improving the common areas of the center,” Herbert said. Phipps gets about 8 million visitors a year, he said.

New paint, better lighting, new lounge areas and seating, upgraded restrooms and Wi-Fi access and charging stations will be among the upgrades. A “hotel-like concierge service center” also will be included. Parking decks will receive new flooring, lighting and automatic doors.

The three-level mall, which has more than 100 stores, will remain open during the renovation. Herbert said the mall expects to add more retailers this year, including Johnny Was and Kate Spade women’s clothiers and Peek…, an upscale children’s boutique.