The rapid East Coast expansion of German discount supermarket chain Lidl is claiming part of a Memorial Drive parking lot near Kirkwood.

Lidl officials confirmed to Urbanize Atlanta this week that construction is underway for a project that’s been in the works since 2019 at 1807 Memorial Drive, where the south side of Kirkwood meets the Parkview neighborhood.

The 30,000-square-foot store will be the latest in a dozen Lidl (pronounced “lee-dl”) locations to sprout in metro Atlanta recently—and the closest to the city’s core so far.

The fenced-off corner site is home to a former Pizza Hut, shuttered since a fire broke out several years ago, and little else.

The 1807 Memorial Drive site today, with townhome construction at a 15-unit project called The Warren across the street. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The broader Parkview Station shopping center counts AutoZone, gym Liv Fitness, and the all-girls Ivy Prep Academy at Kirkwood as tenants.

Lidl spokesperson Chandler Ebeier says construction officially launched on Memorial Drive last month, but it’s “too early in the process to share a grand opening date as of now.” The company declined to provide visuals illustrating what the eastside Atlanta location might look like.

“As we have more to share in the future, we’ll keep in close contact,” Ebeier wrote in an email. “We look forward to opening more stores in the Atlanta area in the future.”

The fenced-off corner of Memorial Drive and Warren Street today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

In the past two years, the grocer has opened a dozen metro Atlanta outposts from Marietta to Suwanee and a new ITP store in Brookhaven, at a shopping center near the intersection of Briarcliff and North Druid Hills roads.

DeKalb County officials approved the Memorial Drive project in February last year, praising its lower-cost options in an area without another large-scale grocer closer than a Publix in East Lake two miles away, the AJC reported at the time.

Lidl reps point to a recent study by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School showing the company’s pricing for items that include fresh food is up to 45 percent lower than national grocers' operating nearby.

In August, Lidl announced plans to debut 50 new stores from New York to Georgia by the end of 2021, generating about 2,000 new jobs and boosting the company’s total U.S. stores to more than 150.

The East Coast expansion plans. Lidl; 2020

“Lidl offers a leading wages and benefits package that includes healthcare insurance for all full and part-time employees,” the company noted in a press release at the time.

Lidl also plans to open a fourth U.S. distribution center east of Atlanta in Covington by the end of 2022.

• Wildly colorful Kirkwood townhomes are selling from the low $300Ks (Urbanize Atlanta)