Alpharetta to National Hockey League: Come here instead

The north OTP arms race for a hypothetical hockey team has officially begun.

A conglomerate called Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group comprised of city officials and influential sports figures has officially thrown its hat (helmet?) into the ring in hopes of luring a National Hockey League team back to metro Atlanta for the first time in more than a decade.

The potential landing spot would be the dated North Point Mall, where other urban-style, mixed-use redevelopment plans crumbled in 2022.

The group’s intentions—made official in a press release issued Tuesday by NHL broadcaster and former player Anson Carter, a longtime metro Atlanta resident—marks the second active campaign for a pro hockey-anchored mega development in the northern suburbs. 

Another proposal about six miles up Ga. Highway 400, The Gathering at South Forsyth, has gained steamed recently in terms of key hires and government approvals, despite requiring several hundred million dollars in public financing to be feasible.

Carter, also a businessman, is considered the leader of Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group, which has made a formal request with NHL leadership to expand the league and bring pro hockey back to the metro. Get this: The arena at the heart of the group’s proposal would be designed by architecture legend Frank Gehry, marking the Pritzker Prize winner’s first work in Georgia, according to the announcement.

Mall owner New York Life, an insurance company, is considered a partner in the proposal, along with Top Tier Sports, Simon Sports, and Zeigler Automotive Group. Carter’s statement says he’s been in conversations with NHL leadership about an expansion team since 2019, and that the proposal has garnered substantial support from local government leaders, though no financial specifics were provided.

Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin told 11Alive News he’s been impressed with Carter’s vision as the two have worked closely together over the past year.

According to Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group, North Point Mall and its parking lots would be swapped with a hockey arena, practice facility, a pro-grade outdoor stadium for soccer and lacrosse, in addition to "hotels, a performing venue, an esports facility, and various residential, retail, dining, conference, and community spaces."

Two years ago, Texas-based developer Trademark Property Company compiled plans for a $500-million, mixed-use overhaul of North Point Mall that would have covered 84 acres. Pushback over the amount of apartments included in those plans was fierce, and the proposal ultimately failed to gain city council approval, eventually fading from headlines. Appen Media has reported that Alpharetta city leaders are expecting new plans for the mall’s redevelopment to emerge from owner New York Life sometime this spring.

Meanwhile, last month, the team behind the potentially $2-billion Gathering at South Forsyth project publicly stated for the first time they’re gunning to bring the NHL back to Georgia—and that it would take a monumental public investment of $390 million to make that happen, should the league decide to expand.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has approved an agreement on principal terms to allow Krause Sports and Entertainment to proceed with four-phase development plans alongside Ga. Highway 400, but no public funding would be allotted unless the NHL will indeed play at a planned 70,000-square foot arena, the project’s anchor. 

The NHL’s return to the metro would be welcome for legions of hockey fans.

The city’s Flames relocated to Calgary in 1980, and following a dozen years in downtown Atlanta, the Thrashers decamped to Winnipeg in 2011. Metro Atlanta’s population has swollen by another 1.4 million people since the Thrashers skedaddled to Canada, making it the second largest U.S. market without a pro hockey team right now, following only Houston.

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