Mall's sweeping redevelopment takes step closer to reality

Extreme makeover plans for an ailing Gainesville mall are moving much more quickly than similar proposals across metro Atlanta. 

Just two months after it was announced, the 49-acre, mixed-use redevelopment of 1970s-era Lakeshore Mall has received unanimous rezoning approval from the City of Gainesville, according to Atlanta-based developer and real estate investment firm Branch Properties. 

As revealed in late November, Branch Properties’ multi-phase plans call for transforming the mall into an open-air, walkable destination that functions as a residential hub and communal gathering place. The new district will be called, simply, Lakeshore. 

Once fully built, it will include 652 multifamily residences, 38,200 square feet of public outdoor greenspace, and 305,000 square feet for retail. (For context, Ponce City Market counts about 350,000 square feet dedicated to retail.) The site will also have room for townhomes and a hotel in future phases, per officials. 

Situated between Lake Lanier and Interstate 985, about an hour northeast of Atlanta in the Hall County seat, the nearly 500,000-square-foot Lakeshore Mall originally opened in 1970 along Dawsonville Highway, a main Gainesville artery. Branch Properties bought the mall in 2022.

In its current state, the mall continues to operate but “looks like a ghost town at times,” as local newspaper The Gainesville Times recently put it. The mall’s directory lists 25 stores and restaurants as currently operating, including anchors Dick’s and Belk. 

Branch Properties officials called the rezoning approval a “significant milestone,” but don’t expect to see bulldozers on site and full closure of the mall soon. 

Groundbreaking isn’t scheduled until late 2026. But once it’s started, the mall redo could move quickly, with project completion forecasted for 2028, according to Branch Properties. 

Plans call for keeping the mall’s anchor tenants Belk and Dick’s Sporting Goods open throughout the development process, though Dick’s will eventually be relocated on site.

With its inclusion of residential, the project echoes other metro mall redevelopments moving forward at North DeKalb Mall, Mall West End, and Gwinnett Place, among others.

Closer to Atlanta, Branch Properties is behind such recent projects as Hugh Howell Marketplace in Tucker (completed in 2022) and Publix-anchored Summerhill Station. 

Elsewhere in Gainesville, the company is developing a 14-acre shopping center called Limestone Marketplace, which is also anchored by Publix.

Franklin Street has been tapped to work with Branch Properties on retail leasing at the Gainesville mall makeover. 

“Gainesville has undergone significant growth, with the population increasing by 15 percent in the past five years, fueled by the draw of Lake Lanier and migration from Atlanta suburbs,” said Jesse Shannon, Branch Properties’ president, partner, and chief investment officer, in a Wednesday announcement.  

“The transformation of Lakeshore will establish Gainesville’s new community heart,” Shannon continued, “an inviting destination that cultivates connection and community through thoughtfully designed public spaces and expansive greenspace.”

Find more context and imagery in the gallery above. 

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Gainesville news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)