Days appear to truly be numbered for longstanding Mall West End, as its replacement begins the process of signing tenants where mall businesses once operated. 

The mall site's New York City-based developers, BRP Companies and The Prusik Group, announced this week they’ve signed a deal with Planet Fitness West End that will keep the gym on the 12-acre property with uninterrupted operations. 

Planet Fitness has agreed to lease roughly 20,000 square feet of space at One West End, the mall’s planned $450-million mixed-use, mixed-income replacement. It marks the first official inked tenant and what project officials are calling “a major milestone in the site’s transformation.”

The current Planet Fitness has occupied a standalone building next to the mall for seven years. Plans call for the gym to keep operating there throughout One West End’s phase one portion of demolition and construction.

Following that, Planet Fitness will relocate to a new building onsite when phase one finishes. That’s estimated to happen sometime in 2029.  

But first things first. 

How residential would be stacked over neighborhood amenities at One West End. Prusik Group/BRP Companies; One West End

BRP and Prusik reps tell Urbanize Atlanta the abatement phase of demolition at the mall is set to begin this week. In construction, that refers to the process of pinpointing, containing, and then extracting all potentially hazardous materials from buildings and development sites.  

As of now, actual construction is scheduled to start in West End in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to project officials. 

Developers say the Planet Fitness signing underscores their commitment to keeping legacy mall tenants onsite or bringing them back once new construction finishes. 

The gym’s “continued commitment to One West End sets a strong precedent for the property’s transformation,” Meredith Marshall, BRP cofounder and managing partner, said in a statement. 

Officials with parent company Flynn Fitness Group called the West End Planet Fitness location, which opened in 2018, a “pillar in the community and one of our strongest clubs.” The future location will allow for a new gym layout with additional pieces of strength equipment and more amenities, according to Kass McInnis, Flynn’s vice president of development. 

As viewed from the north, the West End mall property and Planet Fitness in summer 2024. Google Maps

The Prusik Group and BRP Companies' vision for Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard (first revealed in 2022) is included with new marketing materials. Prusik Group/BRP Companies; One West End

Developers announced in January four longtime tenants were being relocated to a temporary onsite location at 850 Oak St. that will allow them to continue operating throughout the entirety of One West End’s development. Those businesses—apparel store The Burning Sands, Dendera Cosmetics, True Hair, and American Deli—will also be allowed to open in new permanent retail spaces once development is complete, according to project officials.

The development’s scope calls for breaking up Mall West End’s current super block into “four human-scale blocks” linked by pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, per a Development of Regional Impact filing submitted to the state in September. 

Additional facets now call for 125,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store and local restaurants and boutiques. Some commercial space will be designated as affordable for qualified small, local businesses, officials said this week. 

On the residential side, plans now call for roughly 900 units overall, including one and two-bedroom options, with some homes reserved for residents earning between 50 and 80 percent of the Area Median Income. (Officials have previously said 30 percent of units will qualify as low-income.) With the Atlanta University Center Consortium nearby, hundreds of student-housing units will be included. 

No office use is mentioned in current plans. Ditto for a 150-room hotel component that had been included in earlier filings. 

One West End calls for about 1.7 million square feet of new construction overall. 

Broader look at proposed mid-rise construction and a new through-street where Mall West End currently stands. Prusik Group/BRP Companies; One West End

General scope of the 1970s mall property and its 12 acres, with MARTA rail shown at right. Google Maps

The real estate companies closed on Mall West End’s property in fall 2024 for an undisclosed price. They plan to redevelop the retail center in partnership with the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Beltline Inc., and Atlanta Urban Development Corporation, a local nonprofit entity tasked with developing underused land into mixed-income housing.

Developers previously said One West End’s first components would open in 2028, leveraging the site’s proximity to downtown, MARTA (Red and Gold lines), the Beltline, and AUC, among other attractions. 

Mall West End originally opened in 1973, replacing a commercial district and numerous West End houses. The suburban-style shopping enclave became a community cornerstone for decades but struggled in recent years with vacancies, like many traditional malls. 

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