Gwinnett Place Mall clears hurdle in long quest toward rebirth

For Georgia’s second most populous county, the journey to remake a centralized but moribund mall property that’s stretched for more than a decade has taken a key step forward, with more concrete progress on the horizon, according to Gwinnett County leadership.  

The Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett County today green-lighted the purchase of an 11.5-acre former Sears site at Gwinnett Place Mall for $11.5 million, kicking off the next leg of planned redevelopment. 

The Sears purchase is part of a years-long effort to cobble together more of the largely empty mall site and bring it under county ownership for an eventual overhaul.

The most recent property acquisition is scheduled to close by October’s end. When it closes, the Urban Redevelopment Agency and Gwinnett County will own a combined 87.5 acres of the mall property, according to county officials. That’s the vast majority of the Gwinnett Place Mall site, which encompasses just over 90 acres. 

Gwinnett Place Mall’s remake calls for a dense, green, walkable, and well-connected mixed-use hub that celebrates the area’s cultural diversity and character. Following Gwinnett Board of Commissioners’ approval in March, the site will also include a major bus hub, Gwinnett Place Transit Center, which is largely being funded by the Federal Transit Administration, with plans to open in 2032. 

Over the past two decades, Gwinnett Place Mall has slipped from a multi-state attraction into a magnet for unfortunate headlines that was empty enough for Netflix’s Stranger Things to transform its interiors into 1980s-style mall sets for two seasons. An economic analysis prepared by KB Advisory Group in 2023 found the mall had hemorrhaged nearly 88 percent of its collective appraised tax value over the past two decades—dropping from $167 million in 1999 to just $20.6 million—despite the county’s population swelling around it.

Last year, Gwinnett officials announced a partnership with international real estate services firm CBRE to refine development plans and help push them forward. That appears to be producing results. 

According to Gwinnett government officials, CBRE has been in talks with leading developers and gathering data on best practices for a redevelopment project on the mall’s scale. CBRE is preparing a national request for redevelopment proposals that’s “designed to attract top-tier partners” to the Gwinnett Place Mall acreage. County leaders expect to release that RFP later this month, kicking off the nationwide search for a development partner. 

Two public input studies in recent years have helped inform general goals for the beleaguered mall, shedding light on what the reborn Duluth property could bring to the area.  

More than 2,000 Gwinnett residents chimed in during an eight-month process that produced what’s called the Equitable Redevelopment Plan, which boiled down five key areas for preservation and growth: housing, jobs, neighborhood services, small businesses, and a cultural activity center.

Another market analysis that included 6,000 community surveys—the Gwinnett Place Mall Site Revitalization Strategy, a joint effort between Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Place CID, and Atlanta Regional Commission—produced a concept called Global Villages. That calls for housing, office space, an international community cultural center, and retail spaces situated around a central park.

Gwinnett’s Urban Redevelopment Agency purchased a 39-acre portion of the Gwinnett Place Mall site in 2021 and last year added 23 acres that had housed the now-shuttered Macy’s department and furniture store properties. 

“We’re building incredible momentum toward transforming this site into a hub for catalytic change and opportunity for our residents, entrepreneurs, and businesses,” Nicole Love Hendrickson, Gwinnett County Chairwoman, said in an announcement today. “I’m proud of the purposeful progress we’re making and look forward to what’s ahead.” 

Gwinnett Place has fallen far from its heyday as the region’s premier suburban shopping center. It debuted to great fanfare in 1984 as Gwinnett’s first mall, with original anchors that included Rich’s, Sears, and Davison’s. Regular visitors flocked from as far as South Carolina.  

Challenges came with the openings of two more Simon Malls properties, Mall of Georgia in 1999 and Discover Mills in 2001, that pulled from the Gwinnett Place customer base. As tenants dwindled, Simon Malls eventually cut bait with the faltering mall in 2012—followed by another blow two years later, the departure of anchor tenant Belk.

Promises of revitalization by previous ownership never materialized. 

Gwinnett leadership has previously cited the Belmar mixed-use district in Denver and Houston’s CityCentre as potential sources of inspiration for Gwinnett Place. Proximity to Interstate 85, Ga. Highway 316, Gas South Arena, and the cultural melting pot that Duluth has become are considered selling points. 

Find more context and imagery related to Gwinnett Place Mall in the gallery above. 

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