Three more tenants revealed for Summerhill Station development

Promotional materials for the forthcoming Summerhill Station project describe its goals as meeting the community’s fundamental needs while “preserving a local culture” and “vibe and history that is uniquely Summerhill.”

Some neighbors would argue there’s very little uniqueness to how the project is shaping up, at least in terms of what’ll be offered there.

During the Organized Neighbors of Summerhill’s monthly meeting on Monday, Summerhill Station developer Branch Properties unveiled three more retail tenants for the 87,000-square-foot project to be anchored by Publix Super Market, providing the area its long-needed grocery option.

A neighborhood source described the reception to the latest tenant news as “bad.”

“The whole meeting was just quiet when they announced [them],” a Summerhill resident who attended tells Urbanize Atlanta. “Very sad indeed with all the potential it had. Could be worse, I suppose.”

Those tenants will include an AT&T store and beach-inspired, Atlanta-based restaurant chain Tropical Smoothie Café. Also signed is Rusty Taco, an Atlanta-based chain that’s part of Inspire Brands (Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby’s, Dunkin’) with about 40 locations in nine states, according to sources.

We reached out to Branch reps Tuesday for confirmation and specifics in terms of where Summerhill Station tenants will be located—and how much retail space remains available now around the Publix. That inquiry hasn’t been returned.

With the 50,000-square-foot Publix as its anchor, Summerhill Station is claiming 4.4 acres of former parking lots just south of downtown. It’s expected to start opening next summer.  

Branch Properties, an Atlanta-based real estate investment and development firm, previously signed leases with two Piedmont Healthcare tenants that will operate near Publix. A Piedmont Urgent Care by Wellstreet location will occupy a 6,163-square-foot space and provide injury and illness care to kids and adults. A smaller facility, a Piedmont primary care location with just shy of 5,000 square feet, is also forthcoming.

In announcing the project’s Piedmont Healthcare tenants in May, a Branch official said the goal with remaining retail slots is to find “retail, dining, and service options that will resonate with the neighborhood.”

Summerhill Station is part of a 19-block redevelopment claiming what used to be Turner Field’s parking lots and many buildings along a formerly moribund Georgia Avenue. As part of Summerhill's masterplan, Carter is reconnecting the neighborhood’s original street grid to improve walkability and access to Publix, cleaving extensions of Crumley and Glenn streets into asphalt parking lots.

Publix has signed a lease with Carter to operate its grocery between the reconnected corridors, with two levels of parking tucked off Hank Aaron Drive. Also in the works is 35,000 square feet of retail space total in several low-rise buildings that will face the 565 Hank apartments, a 300-unit development across the street.

Beyond Summerhill Station, Branch is overseeing development of six other Publix-anchored shopping centers around the Southeast, including Hugh Howell Marketplace in Tucker and Perimeter Marketplace in Dunwoody.

• Summerhill news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)