The Atlanta Dairies facility on Memorial Drive, which produced milk for generations of schoolchildren before closing down last March, is set to be reborn as a mixed-use development featuring a grocery store and up to 350 apartments.

The 9.5-acre property, a few miles east of downtown, is under contract to Atlanta-based Brand Properties. The project's signature piece is a full-service grocer — a big deal for residents in nearby Grant Park who until recently had to drive long distances to do their food shopping and are still without a grocer in the neighborhood.

Brand Morgan, CEO of Brand Properties, declined to name the store his company has been negotiating with, but he described it as a "mainstream" retailer as opposed to high-end stores such as Whole Foods and Fresh Market.

Morgan said he scouted the Memorial Drive corridor for over a year in search of a spot for a supermarket before settling on the dairy property. The parcel, in the Reynoldstown neighborhood, works because it's large enough to accommodate a grocer as well as a housing component, he said.

"The area is simply underserved for a grocery," Morgan said.

Brand Properties is seeking to rezone the property to allow for a mix of uses.

Morgan said the project would be designed differently than a typical grocer-anchored strip center. Instead of a large surface parking lot out front, parking will be hidden behind a row of retail shops topped by apartments, which will front Memorial. The grocery store will be set off to one side.

Reynoldstown resident Christopher Leerssen said he's excited about the development but wants to make sure that the project is designed the right way, with public spaces that "encourage neighborliness" and "promote a sense of place."

The general outlines of the dairy project have been known for several months, but on Friday Morgan provided new details and confirmed that a supermarket is part of the plan.

He also said if all goes as planned, construction would start by the middle of next year.