Between the bustle of Atlanta and solace of the North Georgia Mountains, a large-scale exurban project meant to function as basically a standalone town is coming together in noticeable ways as summer concludes. 

Developer Atlantic Residential reports the phase one retail component of The Crossing at Coal Mountain, a 140-acre mixed-use hub in North Forsyth County, is making “significant progress” with vertical construction following a groundbreaking in July. 

Revised renderings—significantly different than initial plans for Coal Mountain—help paint the picture of what’s in store. 

The phase-one retail plaza is on pace to bring roughly 47,000 square feet of shopping, entertainment, and dining space to The Crossing at Coal Mountain by next summer, all of it described by project leaders as “thoughtfully curated.” Another section near the plaza will see multifamily housing. 

To date, the project’s flagship mixed-use building has reached its fifth level of framing, while construction is also underway on two multifamily buildings and infrastructure, including new roads. 

Construction progress on The Crossing at Coal Mountain retail this month. Photo courtesy of The Crossing at Coal Mountain

Updated rendering depicting The Crossing at Coal Mountain's multifunctional plaza area. The Crossing at Coal Mountain; designs, ASD/SKY

Atlantic Residential has hired JLL to lead leasing and marketing efforts for project. The breakdown calls for food and beverage concepts to make up 60 percent of phase-one retail offerings, while the rest will go to services and soft goods such as fitness concepts, spas, and salons. A 20,000-square-foot pad space is aiming to lure a market anchor or small-format grocery store. 

The retail plaza’s initial phase “marks a significant step forward in bringing our vision for [the project] to life,” said Brett Bowden, Atlantic Residential’s senior development manager, in a construction update today. “We’re currently curating retail offerings that will bring new brands while honoring the region with local concepts.” 

Situated a mile west of Ga. Highway 400 (and 50 miles from downtown Atlanta), the project marks the latest ground-up new town center in Atlanta’s suburbs, following a blueprint set by Suwanee, Alpharetta, Cumming, Snellville, and other OTP cities. The project name pays homage to the area’s unincorporated Coal Mountain community with roots dating back to the 1830s—but never any coal.

Following seven years of planning and discussions, residential sections of phase one broke ground last year, signaling a push for metro Atlanta’s development boom ever northward toward the North Georgia Mountains.

Plans for plaza-side retail at The Crossing at Coal Mountain. The Crossing at Coal Mountain; designs, ASD/SKY

How The Crossing at Coal Mountain retail and multifamily sections (bottom left) will be slotted into the broader project, roughly a mile from Ga. Highway 400. The Crossing at Coal Mountain; designs, ASD/SKY

Alongside Atlantic Residential, the developer behind the new Loria Ansley tower in Midtown and other recent projects, Fortune Johnson is serving as the Coal Mountain project’s general contractor, managing construction. 

Other sections of the masterplan call for multiple phases of luxury homes built by national developer Toll Brothers. The first offerings—townhomes and standalone houses priced from the low $600,000s, with between 1,960 and 3,600 square feet—are on pace to deliver next summer. 

The Coal Mountain masterplan calls for more than 700 housing units to eventually be built, officials have said. 

Toll Brothers heads said in 2023 the breakdown for Coal Mountain includes 222 single-family homes, 219 townhomes, 300 apartments, plus 20,200 square feet of offices, and more than 70,000 square feet for retail.

Photos courtesy of The Crossing at Coal Mountain

Molly Morgan, JLL executive vice president of retail leasing, said the area is “experiencing tremendous growth,” and phase one’s “vibrant retail destination… will serve the expanding community while attracting visitors from across North Georgia and the Atlanta area."

A few miles south of the Coal Mountain project, Forsyth’s county seat Cumming opened its own made-from-scratch, mixed-use city center in 2023. That project functions as an improved downtown for Cumming, with a popular amphitheater as a core attraction.

In the gallery above, find more Coal Mountain context and depictions of how the community is expected to look and function. 

Overview of the full 140-acre project with future commercial and retail components in Cumming. The Crossing at Coal Mountain; designs, ASD/SKY

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