Proctor Square is coming down.
Demolition began Tuesday on the 1960s-era complex on the southwest corner of Buford and Duluth highways, a retail center that, over the years, has seen five-and-dimes, a Winn-Dixie, a Big Lots and the original location for Duluth's famed Rexall Grill. Once it's completely torn down, the space will be used to build a new $64 million mixed-use project.
Proctor Square had been mostly empty -- and mostly an eyesore -- for several years and, during a brief ceremony Tuesday, Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris recalled being asked about it as far back as a decade ago. She called its eventual replacement, which is just the latest addition to a flurry of big-time development around her city's downtown, a "catalyst project."
The new project from Dunwoody-based developer Residential Group, LLC, dubbed "The Village in Duluth," will feature "a 375 multi-family rental unit complex with 11 retail/office store fronts with connected living space and two corner restaurant sites," city officials previously said. Construction is expected to take two years.
"It will be a keystone project for the revelopment of the Buford Highway corridor," Residential Group's Kurt Alexander said.
Watch video of the start of demolition below:
Down the street from the Proctor Square project, work is well underway on "The Block at Parson's Alley," a 30,000-square-foot restaurant and retail district surrounding the city's Village Green. Dreamland Bar-B-Que has already opened on the site near Lawrenceville and Main streets, as has O4W Pizza.
On the western side of Duluth Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, a 31-acre development known as Sugarloaf Marketplace will include 330 luxury apartments and 75,000 square feet of retail. A Sprouts Farmers Market opened on the site in May.
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