Toro Development Lands Financing for Mixed-Use Hub Near Atlanta

Toro Development Company has secured $560 million in financing for its mixed-use development in Johns Creek, where construction is now set to start next month.

The development, called Medley, received an undisclosed equity investment from Denver-based real estate private equity firm Ascentris, plus a $158 million construction loan from Mexico City-based Banco Inbursa, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The project is also getting a $13.4 million tax break from Fulton County.

Terms of financing were not disclosed, but finding backing for such projects remains a challenge due to interest rates that remain relatively high and a slow recovery of the commercial real estate market, said Mark Toro, founder of the developer.

“It was a heavy lift, but the fundamentals of experiential mixed-use real estate remain attractive to the right investors, even in today’s frigid market,” he said.

Renderings of plans for 16650 Johns Creek Parkway in Johns Creek (Toro Development)

The development is set to redefine suburban Johns Creek with the redevelopment of a 43-acre low-rise office complex, at 16650 Johns Creek Parkway, into a community hub. Plans include a 175-key hotel, 110,000-square-feet of office space, 750 apartment units, 133 townhome units, 150,000-square-feet of retail and a 25,000-square-foot plaza.

“Our plan will completely transform a struggling, commodity office park into a walkable, urban oasis for Johns Creek,” Toro said.

Toro bought the site, a former State Farm campus, for $44 million in March. One office building on the site has been demolished, and the other is slated to be renovated. The project could be completed in the fall of 2026.

Mark Toro was the co-founder of the Atlanta subsidiary of North American Properties when he developed Avalon, in the upscale suburb Alpharetta. That mixed-use development’s two phases were delivered in 2014 and 2017. Its largest tenants are Regal Cinemas, Whole Foods, Crate and Barrel and The Container Store. Toro also redeveloped Atlanta’s Colony Square and Atlantic Station in his previous role.

“This will not be Avalon 2.0, but it will have some of those same pieces and parts,” he told the Atlanta Business Chronicle when Medley was announced two years ago.

—Rachel Stone