DeKalb city expanding next month to include Northlake Mall

The mall currently sits in unincorporated DeKalb.

Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

The mall currently sits in unincorporated DeKalb.

Northlake Mall is set to officially become part of the city of Tucker.

The struggling shopping center that lies barely inside the Perimeter in North DeKalb will be annexed into the city June 1. The Tucker City Council unanimously approved the annexation at a meeting Monday night.

ATR Corinth Partners, which owns the entire mall except for one parcel occupied by Macy’s, presented city officials with a petition in April asking to be annexed into the city limits. The mall currently sits just outside of Tucker’s western edge in unincorporated DeKalb County.

This map shows the areas of Northlake Mall (shaded in blue) that would become part of Tucker (the area in yellow). (Photo: City of Tucker)

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City officials welcomed the addition of the mall partly because of the income Tucker will gain from its stores and restaurants. Tucker makes the bulk of its revenue from business licenses and fees, since residents and businesses do not pay property taxes to the city.

Northlake is also primed for redevelopment. While full plans have not been announced, ATR is leaning toward developing the mall into a mixed-use property, starting in the next year or two, said Tony Ruggeri, a partner at the Dallas-based firm.

» RELATED: Northlake Mall seeks to be added to Tucker city limits

» READ MORE: Northlake Mall sold, redevelopment possible

“This is one of the part of the city that has not been fully tapped up until this point,” Ruggeri told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month. He said Northlake could “act as a catalyst for a lot more development in the area over time.”

ATR bought the nearly 1 million-square-foot mall at the intersection of Briarcliff and Lavista roads in early 2016.

Property taxes the mall will pay to DeKalb County will not change. Tucker also uses DeKalb police, water and sewer services, although the police department has a specified “Tucker Precinct.”

Northlake was originally included in Tucker’s proposed cityhood map in 2014, but it was removed by legislators before the 2016 referendum that made Tucker a city.

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