‘Roswell is open for business’: How two projects could reshape the suburb.
Roswell Town Center has seen better days.
It spent the 1970s and 1980s as an enclosed mall, but the retail center at Holcomb Bridge Road and Alpharetta Highway has aged like many suburban shopping centers. It’s now a half-vacant open-air strip mall mostly featuring bargain stores surrounded by a sea of parking.
The retail center barely resembles the gathering spot north of Atlanta it was in its prime. But Roswell leaders say it can serve that role again — this time with a city-sized scope.
“It is the linchpin property and the next most meaningful move for us to make as a city,” Peter Sorckoff, a consultant for Roswell, told elected officials and residents during a Monday meeting.
Roswell leaders entered into an early-stage agreement to redevelop the property into a 47-acre city center. Specifics are still being formed in partnership with developer Morris & Fellows Ventures, which remade downtowns for Alpharetta and Woodstock, but it’ll likely include a mix of commercial, residential, office, educational and civic uses.
It comes on the heels of city leaders approving a mixed-use redo of a former police headquarters, highlighting how the growing Atlanta suburb is trying to create vibrant gathering spaces beyond its historic Canton Street’s downtown.
“We are trying to correct a lot of sins of the past and some economic issues that are challenging to overcome that are unique to our city,” Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson said during the meeting.
‘Run its useful life’
Roswell is no longer the small town it was 50 years ago when it had fewer than 5,500 residents.
It’s now Georgia’s ninth-most populous city with nearly 93,000 residents — growing its population more than 1600% since 1970.
The development trends that informed the design of Roswell Town Center, initially known as Roswell Mall, are from a bygone era. It’s a challenge facing many of Atlanta’s suburbs as consumer tastes evolve, shunning drivable strip malls in favor of walkable live-work-play districts such as Alpharetta’s Avalon.
“A big box (store) is a place you go, you get what you need and then you get out of there. They’re not meant to linger,” Sorckoff said. “ … How do you break it up into smaller, more action-oriented places and spaces where people can actually live, have dinner, walk or visit.”
Roswell Town Center once housed big box stores like Target, Kmart and Richway, all of which have since closed. The strip mall’s movie theater has struggled, even closing from 2007 to 2011. An amusement center called WhirlyBall Atlanta also didn’t survive.
“For quite some time, this shopping area has struggled to maintain tenants,” Jeffrey Leatherman, Roswell’s deputy city administrator, said. “It has run its useful life.”
The city Monday entered into a nonbinding agreement with Morris & Fellows to pursue the city center plan. City staff will evaluate permits, zoning and incentives, while the developer is tasked with creating a master plan. Those elements will be presented for public feedback and input when further along, Wilson said.
Sorckoff added that the area will likely need a tax allocation district to make redevelopment financial feasible. TADs are areas where property tax revenue growth is allocated to pay for infrastructure within its boundaries, and they’ve become a hot topic in Atlanta as Mayor Andre Dickens aims to renew all of his city’s TADs, potentially a $5 billion effort.
“Without the support of a tax allocation district, I can almost unequivocally tell you that this project will not move forward in any kind of meaningful way, either with this developer or any other developer,” Sorckoff said.
Create community
Not far from Roswell Town Center, another large project is brewing. A $140 million development called Hillrose Market aims to transform 7 acres that includes Roswell’s former police headquarters.
The project will rise along Hill Street, near Roswell City Hall and in walking distance to Canton Street.
Decades ago, Canton Street’s historic buildings were transformed into a walkable dining and shopping district. It served as a model for a wave of revitalization in suburban downtowns across metro Atlanta.
Now, Hillrose Market aims to build on that appeal. Atlanta developer The Atlantic Cos. is leading the effort in a public-private partnership with Roswell. The City Council on Oct. 14 voted to endorse the plans.
The project will include a retail village centered around green space, an office building and more than 140 apartments. The former police headquarters will become retail and office space, and home builder Providence Group will add 16 townhomes.
“It’s really trying to create a community right there in downtown Roswell,” said Jim Meyer, Atlantic’s founder and managing partner. “We’re not trying to copy Canton Street. Canton Street’s got its own character.”
But, he said the development team has been “sensitive to the historic nature of the area.”
Westbridge, known for its intown adaptive reuse projects such as Westside Provisions District and Westside Paper, is serving as a commercial consultant.
“The design of it — the look and the feel of it — is something that we do intown,” said Chris Faussemagne, partner at Westbridge. “The retail buildings are single story. They’re approachable. They feel within a human scale.”
The project will feature “Southern revival” architecture, heavily landscaped areas and a brick-clad parking deck, Meyer added. Faussemagne expects tenants such as a coffee shop, wine bar, chef-led restaurants, and wellness concepts. Construction is expected to start early next year.
Wilson, Roswell’s mayor, said the project signals a shift in the city toward a more welcoming environment for economic development.
“This project is really, really important to us,” Wilson said. “It says to capital markets Roswell is open for business.”
About the Authors
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
