A clearer picture is emerging for what a West Midtown project will offer that developers say adds a new dimension to one of the fastest-growing subdistricts in the U.S.

Atlanta-based development firm SJC Ventures confirms this week that German grocer Lidl will anchor the retail portion of Interlock Tower at Northside, the second phase of a large mixed-use district that’s sprouted over the past five years between the Howell Mill Road corridor and Georgia Tech.

Lidl will occupy 31,000 square feet of a street-level space—located beneath the new Theory Interlock apartments, fronting Northside Drive—that was initially slated to become a Publix Super Market. It’ll mark the third ITP location for Lidl, a discount retailer with other stores on Briarcliff Road and on Memorial Drive near Kirkwood.

Lidl officials tell Urbanize Atlanta no timeline for building out and opening the Northside Drive store is available yet.

SJC Ventures’ president Jeff Garrison called a grocery with fresh food options “essential to all of West Midtown” in today’s announcement. Tony Zivalich Jr., Georgia Tech’s associate vice president of real estate, applauded the Lidl pick near the western edge of campus as a “walkable, high-quality, affordable, locally sourced food option for our students, staff, and faculty, as well as the growing residential population in the West Midtown community.”

After breaking ground three years ago, Interlock’s second phase has consumed 4 and ½ acres where Northside Drive meets 11th and Ethel streets.

A promotional image showing the breakdown of phase two uses, with Lidl's space depicted beneath the new Theory Interlock apartments at right. Interlocktower.com/SJC Ventures

The mixed-use building's 1042 Northside Drive location in Interlock's second phase. Google Maps

Other new tenants include: Pinky Promise Champagne Bar, a champagne piano bar that opened last month, and Jeremiah's Italian Ice. Newly signed office tenants include marketing firm Trevelino/Keller and data management firm Nexus Cognitive.

SJC Ventures has also recently retained global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield to handle leasing at Interlock’s newest phase. Officials point to proximity to Georgia Tech’s talent pipeline, food-and-beverage offerings in Interlock’s first phase, and a nine-story parking deck (with a Starbucks drive-thru attached) as perks of the location.

Tenants that have already opened at Interlock Tower include Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, Five Guys, Salon Lofts, Eleven Nail Bar, and GoodVets. A rooftop restaurant by Wagyu House, with skyline views described by SJC Ventures officials as “stunning,” is also in the pipeline.

Commercial real estate firm Bridger Properties has been picked to handle property management. Jack Arnold, that company’s cofounder and principal, called Interlock Tower “a landmark property in one of the country’s fastest growing submarkets” in a prepared statement.

The Interlock Tower at Northside's frontage along its namesake street, just west of Georgia Tech. Courtesy of SJC Ventures

Eastern skyline views from new Interlock office spaces, as shown in promotional images.Interlocktower.com/SJC Ventures

SJC Ventures’ latest addition to West Midtown continues more than a decade of vertical growth in Marietta Street Artery and adjacent neighborhoods such as Home Park.

Next door to Interlock’s second phase, the residential Stella at Star Metals tower continues to climb over 11th Street. That project’s developer, The Allen Morris Company, is now seeking a variance with the City of Atlanta to make one tower in its final phase 210 feet taller than what’s currently allowed, in an effort to trade ground-coverage for height.  

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