Georgia

ATLANTA — Elevator City Partners (ECP) has unveiled plans for its $400 million West End Mall redevelopment project in Atlanta’s historic West End neighborhood. The announcement follows months of public and private strategic meetings with community leaders and stakeholders, including nearby historic black colleges Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse School of Medicine. The redevelopment of West End Mall will feature retail, restaurants, offices and housing delivered in two phases. The City of Atlanta provided a $2 million predevelopment loan to locally based-ECP to secure the site, perform due diligence work, begin preliminary designs with architectural firm Gensler and conduct feasibility studies with Alexander Babbage and Noell Consulting Group. The loan comes with affordable housing reserves for any future housing on the site. ECP seeks to raise $400 million from multiple types of public and private investors that could be interested in the project’s opportunity zone offerings. ECP says the project has attracted the interest of large banks, family offices and foundations and that one family office has brought a national hotel developer to the project. Atlanta BeltLine originator Ryan Gravel and venture capitalist Donray Von co-founded ECP. The firm will launch a $15 million fund to support minority-owned …

MONROE, GA. — MAB American Management plans to break ground in the first quarter on Monroe Pavilion, an $80 million shopping center situated on a 100-acre site in Monroe, an Atlanta suburb in Walton County. The property’s leasing agent, Retail Specialists, has signed several retailers to join the tenant roster of the 350,000-square-foot project, including Publix, Ross Dress for Less, Ulta Beauty, Marshalls, Rack Room Shoes and Five Below. Beau Young of Retail Specialists is also targeting restaurants and service-based retailers for the shopping center and its outparcels. MAB American Management, the U.S. affiliate firm of Australian-based developer MAB Corp., expects to deliver Monroe Pavilion in summer 2021.

BUFORD, GA. — Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company, and Simon Property Group Inc., a REIT and shopping mall operator, have announced that Mall of Georgia in Buford will be the location for the companies’ first dedicated esports venue. The two-level, 13,000-square-foot facility will be a gaming and esports destination. The venue will feature regular amateur and professional esports tournaments and events spanning a variety of games and genres. The location, which will have full broadcast and streaming production capabilities, will also offer PCs and consoles for daily use, full food and beverage options and experiential retail. The redevelopment of the current retail space is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020, with an opening of the venue anticipated in the second half of the year. Mall of Georgia, the largest shopping destination in the Southeast, features more than 200 shops, a dining pavilion and movie theater. Allied Esports and Simon announced a strategic alliance in June 2019. The two companies plan to open dedicated esports venues at Simon centers around the country and create a co-produced national amateur esports tournament — the Simon Cup — featuring online competition and in-person events at Simon locations.