Good news for Gwinnettians who like a little wine with their window shopping: You will, generally speaking, be able to carry a drink around the new entertainment district being dreamed up near the Infinite Energy Center.
Revel — the sprawling district being planned on the 118-acre property near Duluth — is being conjured up by North American Properties, the same team that spawned Alpharetta's super-popular Avalon development. There will be more than a few similarities between the two projects, and "open container" policies will be one of them.
More on subscriber site myAJC.com: Gwinnett’s new entertainment district: Food, drinks, shops — and MARTA?
Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners approved in 2016 an ordinance change that specifically allowed boozy beverages to be carried around the premises of the “Gwinnett Entertainment District,” as the area surrounding the Infinite Energy Center was dubbed at the time.
There are more specific guidelines to govern the distribution of alcohol. But the policy will be good news for shoppers who are inclined to imbibe — and for developers and retailers, too.
Asked about alcohol at a Revel-related gathering last week, North American’s managing partner Mark Toro called Avalon’s open container policy its “ace of spades.”
"There's nothing that lubricates sales in retail stores like booze," he said.
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