A variety of big-name national and cherished local retailers is set to rise from the ashes of North DeKalb Mall. 

Officials with Edens, a national real estate developer remaking the 78-acre DeKalb County mall property, announced today the initial lineup of shops, eateries, and other businesses bound for the Lulah Hills project at 20242 Lawrenceville Highway, where vertical construction has begun. 

Recently signed tenants include Anthropologie, Design Within Reach, Herman Miller, Solidcore, Firepit Pizza Tavern (current operators of a Grant Park location), Atlanta-based Honeysuckle Gelato, Les Mains Nail Bar, and LaserAway.

Elsewhere, according to Edens reps, Clarkston-based Refuge Coffee plans to open this spring in a former fuel station where North Druid Hills Road meets Mistletoe Road, just north of the main former mall property. 

The fresh slate of retailers will join a new Publix, Marshalls, and AMC Theatres, which is currently being reconfigured to 11 screens but remains open (as does Marshalls) during construction. 

“The quality of this [retail] group, and more to come, reflects the passionate community that is established here and the realization of a world-class shopping district for DeKalb County and the east metro Atlanta community,” said Herbert Ames, Edens’ managing director, in a project update today. 

Planned look of Novel Lulah Hills apartments and retail functionality along a new street called Lula Avenue at the ongoing mall redevelopment. Courtesy of Crescent Communities; designs by Dwell Design Studio

Elsewhere on the property, on the residential front, Crescent Communities has begun vertical construction on 303-unit Novel Lulah Hills, while Empire Communities is building another facet with 92 for-sale townhomes. 

According to Edens, which started mall demo in June 2024, the first wave of retail options is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2027, followed by the first residential units later next year. 

Big picture, Lulah Hills calls for 1,700 residential units (including townhomes), multiple greenspaces, and 320,000 square feet of restaurants and retail spaces, including the new Publix grocery, across 2.5 million square feet of development at full buildout. 

How the existing AMC theater building will relate to new shops and open-air social spaces at Lulah Hills. Edens/Lulah Hills

A revised rendering for Lulah Hills' centralized greenspace and shops. Edens/Lulah Hills

Connections to the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve and Emory University are also in the works, per developers. 

Beyond Lulah Hills, Edens owns and operates 1 million square feet of retail around Atlanta. 

Other properties include Merchant’s Walk, Toco Hills, Andrews Square in Buckhead, Buckhead Market Place, Park Place, and recent portfolio addition Pearson’s Corner in Buckhead’s West Village. 

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