A developer paid $44 million to acquire a former State Farm office campus in Johns Creek to transform it into a sprawling mixed-use district that’s central to local leaders’ plans to create its own city center.
Toro Development Co. announced Thursday it closed on the property transaction, buying the 43-acre site along Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road. The $350 million mixed-use project called “Medley” is the first of its kind in Johns Creek and is influenced by Avalon in neighboring Alpharetta.
The site is currently home to a four-story office building, which will be incorporated into the new development, along with a sprawling sea of surface parking. Upon completion, Medley is slated to feature 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; 900 luxury residential units consisting of townhomes and apartments; 110,000 square feet of office space; and a central greenspace area.
Credit: Courtesy of Toro Development Company
Credit: Courtesy of Toro Development Company
Mark Toro leads his namesake development firm after working on the North American Properties team that built Avalon, and he’s been on a campaign in recent years to bring live-work-play projects to the suburbs, arguing that isolated office parks are no longer desired by employers and white collar workers.
“Medley represents the radical reimagining of a dying suburban office park into a dense, walkable mixed-use community,” he said in a news release.
The developer has already announced several retail tenants, and Toro said he expects to announce more soon. Medley was approved by the Johns Creek City Council last year and is expected to kickstart the city’s 192-acre Town Center area, which will act as the suburb’s de facto downtown. Medical device producer Boston Scientific also plans to build a new $62.5 million manufacturing and supply chain facility as part of the district project.
“This is an important milestone as we continue to advance the various pieces of the Town Center together,” Mayor John Bradberry said in the release.
In April 2023, Toro received a $13.4 million tax break from the Development Authority of Fulton County as part of the Medley project. Vertical construction is planned to begin later this year.
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