Around Atlanta and the rest of the country, there are few retail developments in the pipeline that aren’t attached to office or residential uses. During CREW Atlanta’s panel discussion titled “The Evolution of Retail,” experts agreed that retailers are embracing mixed-use projects out of necessity. “I’m not sure if in the near-term there will be any more retail-only projects. Retail alone can’t sustain a single development, it needs other users,” said Tisha Maley, founder and principal of The Maley Co., a retail real estate advisory company that spearheads the leasing efforts for Ponce City Market in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward district. The 2 million-square-foot adaptive reuse project is the gold standard of how retailers are integrating into larger multi-use developments to great effect. “Ponce City Market as an anchor of the BeltLine has changed Old Fourth Ward forever. What retailers are attracted to is that shoppers show up to Ponce City Market for one reason or another multiple times a week,” said Maley, referring to the office component of the development, as well as The Suzuki School and Core Power Yoga. “It’s about creating a place where retailers and restaurants can feel that they can do business.” In addition to …
