Reshaping Atlanta’s Midtown Retail

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

In a letter released earlier this week, Mark Toro and North American Properties addressed Midtown residents, sharing their vision and further goals for Atlantic Station after the recent acquisition of the retail component of the master-planned community.

In an attempt to transform the 586,000-square-foot retail area into a shopping mecca for all intown neighborhoods, Toro and NAP are soliciting feedback from both the Atlantic Station and larger Midtown communities on the progress they’ve made so far. Mark Toro, a Midtown resident as well as North American Properties’ managing partner, strongly believes that Atlantic Station’s success relies on addressing the retailer and restaurant preferences of Midtown and other area residents.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Town Center retail space, acquired in joint venture with CB Richard Ellis Investors, won the retail category of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2011 Best in Atlanta Real Estate Awards.

12th & Midtown, a more than $1 billion mixed-use project, has a similar direction. It is set in the heart of the Midtown Mile—another highly ambitious development that is to include 1 million square feet of storefronts on Peachtree Street—and developers Selig Enterprises and Daniel Corp. recently announced the future presence of CB2, STK and Exhale Mindy Body & Spa among its tenants.

In an effort to better meet the shopping needs of the average Midtown consumer, the developers contracted the help of market research firm Alexander Babbage & Associates. After conducting a recent study, the firm reached the conclusion that the Midtown patron is younger, wealthier, better educated and more aspirational than any other segment of the Atlanta market and recommended that the retail sector adapt accordingly.