Publix and other retail planned for blighted south DeKalb corridor
After years of discussions, DeKalb County announced a new development Friday that will bring a Publix supermarket and other retail to a landmark intersection that became a symbol of underinvestment in south DeKalb.
The 50,000-square-foot supermarket will sit at the southeastern corner of Candler and Glenwood roads, two major arteries notorious for blight in DeKalb. An 11,000-square-foot multi-tenant retail building will also be built on the 26-acre property, which will become the Candler Crossing shopping center, according to the site plan.
The commercial spaces will be rented to local businesses at below-market rates, according to the county.
The property is just east of the city limits of Atlanta, where the East Lake neighborhood is booming and gentrifying. The property currently contains a nail salon, an H&R Block office and a used furniture store.
DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said she engaged the developer, Venture South Investments, in 2019 when she was a county commissioner representing the area. The project was put on hold for about two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Decide DeKalb Development Authority board last week awarded a $3.8 million tax incentive to the project, which sits in the Southwest DeKalb Tax Allocation District. The developer will be reimbursed from increased property tax revenue that the completed projects will generate.
The shopping center will cost about $29 million to build, creating at least 100 construction jobs and 183 permanent positions, according to the development authority. Construction is expected to begin in the spring, with occupancy scheduled for October 2027.
The development authority voted to move the project forward the day before the Kroger in nearby Belvedere Plaza closed its doors.
“Candler Crossing is a full-circle moment for me,” Cochran-Johnson said in a news release. “This project will deliver fresh food, create jobs and reestablish Candler Road as a destination for the community.”
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved rezoning requests in May for the project.
DeKalb residents and leaders have grappled for decades with the county’s north-south divide, caused by historical racism that included neglect of the sewer system. The county is under a federal consent decree to improve the sewers, which mostly overflow in southwest DeKalb. The county last month implemented the first in a decade-long series of steep water and sewer rate hikes that are expected to generate billions for an infrastructure overhaul and enable more development in south DeKalb.
Former Commissioner Larry Johnson, who also represented southwest DeKalb for decades until last year, repeatedly highlighted the Candler and Glenwood intersection while pushing for beautification and economic development in his district.
The new shopping center will contain green space and pedestrian walkways, according to the county. Its MARTA bus stop will be renovated, officials said.
“This is more than a development project,” DeKalb County Chief Development Officer Jacob Vallo said in the news release. “It’s a commitment to the future of this community.”
Local business owner Mack Wilbourn, president of Mack II, said he worked for more than 20 years to assemble the land parcels for a moment like this. He will sell the property to Venture South Investments for an amount that was not disclosed Friday.
“It is my belief that what Venture South Investments is about to do will change the outlook for this area for many more decades to come,” Wilbourn said in the news release.
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