Crow Holdings Proposes Multifamily for Aging Atlanta Mall

One of the Atlanta metro’s aging malls could be next in line for a residential reboot.

Dallas-based Crow Holdings’ multifamily arm, Trammell Crow Residential, is proposing 495 apartments for the northeastern corner of Northlake Mall in Tucker, with plans for three five-story apartment buildings on 11 acres near the mall’s food court, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The project would bring housing to a shopping complex in the early stages of a years-long revitalization.

Dallas-based ATR Corinth Partners owns the 1 million-square-foot mall.

An attorney for the landlord, Den Webb, asked the Tucker City Council to permit the apartment component before a full master plan is developed for the entire mall site, describing the apartments as a catalyst.

Multifamily “is the savior for most malls,” he said. “It not only brings revenue and energy, but it brings people.”

Northlake Mall, located off Briarcliff Road, was once the largest mall in metro Atlanta when it opened in 1971. Like many enclosed malls, it has struggled in recent decades. ATR bought the property from Simon Property Group in 2016 and has gradually repositioned it through commercial leasing and amenity upgrades.

In 2020, Emory Healthcare leased more than 200,000 square feet in former Sears and Kohl’s space, and Jim ‘N Nick’s barbecue is now building on an outparcel. The apartments would represent a major step toward mixed-use density.

But council members were cautious about approving any single component without a full roadmap. Mayor Frank Auman said he saw the “logic in some residential” but was hesitant to approve it in isolation.

“We don’t want to get in a place where we get this proposal today… and pretty soon the whole thing is residential,” he said. “We want to know what else is going to follow.”

Mall redevelopments across metro Atlanta increasingly hinge on residential anchors. Projects at Gwinnett Place Mall and North DeKalb Mall call for thousands of units, with 3,800 and 1,800 homes planned, respectively. Redevelopment plans for Gainesville’s Lakeshore Mall include 305,000 square feet of retail and 650 apartments, with potential for a hotel or townhomes.

— Judah Duke