Ponce City Market developer to tackle North Point Mall’s NHL ambitions
The effort to transform North Point Mall into a mixed-use arena capable of attracting a professional hockey franchise now has some developer muscle attached.
Jamestown, which is known for developing Atlanta’s Ponce City Market and One Times Square in New York, announced Thursday it was selected to pursue the North Point Mall redevelopment with NHL ambitions. The developer was tapped by New York Life, the Alpharetta mall’s owner, to pursue redevelopment entitlements and oversee predevelopment preparation.
It’s a major announcement that injects new fuel into a two-way race among metro Atlanta projects aiming to snag an NHL team, with the other farther north in Forsyth County. The league’s brass, however, has yet to commit to giving the Atlanta area another franchise after the Flames and Thrashers both came and left.
“We think this is a great location for an NHL team and, hopefully, our efforts will attract an owner who wants to acquire an expansion team and bring hockey back to Atlanta,” Tim Perry, chief investment officer at Jamestown, said in a news release.
North Point Mall was one of the largest indoor shopping malls in the country when it opened in 1993. It sits on a 100-acre site in Alpharetta, an affluent city 30 minutes north of Atlanta that has undergone a development and population boom in recent decades.
The mall like many others is pivoting after the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of e-commerce disrupted the business model of regional shopping centers. New York Life in 2021 acquired the mall, and has considered multiple mixed-use redevelopment plans in the years since.
But pro hockey has allured Alpharetta.
The city last year commissioned a study to evaluate the feasibility of building a hockey arena at the North Point Mall site. The city also agreed to create a tax allocation district — an area where property tax revenue growth is allocated to pay for infrastructure within its boundaries — aiming to incentivize infrastructure improvements in the North Point Mall area.
“Thanks to the leadership and vision of the City of Alpharetta, the opportunity to transform a large and underutilized property into a state-of-the-art, NHL arena-anchored community is one that will benefit residents and businesses alike,” Alan Rubenstein, senior director at New York Life Investment Management, said in the release.
Up in Forsyth County, a group led by car dealership owner Vernon Krause is making the same case to NHL leadership, arguing they’re ahead of Alpharetta.
Forsyth County leaders last summer approved Krause’s plan for The Gathering at South Forsyth, an 84-acre project intended to be anchored by an NHL-ready arena. The project is just waiting for NHL approval, which has yet to come.
Instead, the NHL informed its team owners that if the league expanded beyond its 32 teams, the franchise fees would be at least $2 billion. In September, league deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that both Atlanta bids were “aspirational” and needed a plan that’s “a little more actionable than where we currently are.”
Forsyth County Commission Chairman Alfred John disagrees, arguing his county’s proposal is the region’s best bet on the NHL tapping into the Atlanta area’s vast audience once again.
“The Gathering at South Forsyth sits on what is unquestionably the best site in the region,” he said last week in a statement. “Unlike other potential locations, this site is shovel ready … Forsyth County is competing on location, infrastructure, access and execution, and not speculation.
Either project, if successful, would mirror a trend of pro sports teams selecting city suburbs over downtown cores.
Both the Flames and Thrashers played in downtown Atlanta during their tenures in Atlanta, and the Hawks, Falcons and United all call downtown home. The Braves spent decades downtown before relocating to Cobb County to build The Battery and what’s now known as Truist Park in 2017, which several other sports franchises have cited as a profitable model.
Alpharetta and Forsyth County, however, are even farther from downtown Atlanta. North Point Mall is nearly 24 miles away from State Farm Arena, and The Gathering site is more than 30 miles away. Both properties also lack MARTA integration or the multiple interstate access points featured at The Battery.
For its part, Jamestown will lead North Point Mall’s property management and preparation starting in March. Machete Group, a real estate advisory and development firm specializing in sports arenas and mixed-use districts, was also tapped to work alongside Jamestown.
Jamestown in 2024 also acquired North American Properties, which brought Alpharetta’s Avalon into its portfolio. The company also manages several other mixed-use districts in the Atlanta area that could serve as inspiration, such as Midtown’s Colony Square, Avenue East Cobb in Marietta and The Forum in Peachtree Corners.
The North Point property still needs to be rezoned, which the development group said will help determine the mixed-use district’s specifics and site plan.
The group anticipates the project to include apartments, retail, office space, hotels and public transit centered around “a state-of-the-art arena site that strives to bring the NHL back to Atlanta.”
About the Author
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.
