For people of a certain age, it’s perfectly normal to look back and remember fondly “the good old days”. Those days could be a few years ago, a few decades ago…or they could be sitting right in front of us.
That’s certainly the case with Northlake Mall, which opened for the first time on October 6, 1971. Hard as it is for some of us to believe, that’s now 50 years ago this month. Northlake has served millions of happy customers and served as a gathering place for our community for a half-century. Over that time, countless teenagers had their first jobs there, hung out in the food court with friends, shopped with their parents for new school clothes and joined thousands of other frenzied Christmas shoppers searching for that perfect last minute present. My wife Gaye grew up on Henderson Mill Road and graduated from Henderson High School, and I can tell you she lived those times.
But, as the years have gone by, newer malls have been built and innovations like online shopping have gone mainstream. It’s robbed Northlake and other malls of that era of the vibrance of their halcyon days. In recent years, Northlake has gone noticeably quiet. The parking lots are mostly empty. Several big box retailers have moved out. It’s just not the place it used to be.
So, it’s counterintuitive to say that the Mall’s best days are ahead of it, but that’s exactly the stage that’s being set. Tony Ruggeri and Frank Mihalopoulos are believers. Tony and Frank are principals in a company from Dallas, Texas called ATR Corinth Partners. This group purchased Northlake Mall some time ago, holding a vision that this once great mall could be reimagined into something bigger and better, and with an elevated regional significance. These men aren’t selling a dream; they’re replicating a proven product that they created.
In Nashville, Tennessee, their firm looked at an aging, lagging 100 Oaks Mall and saw opportunity. They partnered with Vanderbilt Medical and converted roughly half the space to medical office space. That brought thousands of employees. Know what thousands of employees need? Places to eat. Places to shop. Places to get personal services from workouts to dry cleaning to technology repairs. That brought a bevy of restaurants, service providers and even some great retail options to what had previously been a lost cause.
This success story is very similar to the blueprint ATR Corinth Partners has for Northlake. Early on, they partnered with Emory Healthcare to bring about 2,000 jobs to the former mall. Those employees will being moving in early next year. Before the pandemic, they were in serious talks with major restaurant and retail chains to locate their brands in and around the mall. Since the onset of COVID, some of those businesses were forced to drop out, but others have stepped up and expressed an interest. We can’t say who those businesses are just yet, but I know you’ll enjoy eating and shopping at some fantastic new establishments – and some familiar ones, as well.
It is because of this vision and this multi-million dollar investment in Tucker that I decided to give the 2021 Mayor’s Business Award to Tony, Frank and the team that is redeveloping Northlake Mall. This is an award that honors businesspeople who are doing well, while also doing good in our city. When this Northlake project comes to fruition, ATR Corinth Partners will see revenues, of that I’m sure, but they are also committed to being good partners and supporting the City and its residents.
One last thing I’d like to mention is that a mall is being redeveloped because of the foresight and innovative spirit of Tony, Frank and their associates. This mall is being redeveloped because of you. ATR Corinth Partners could have picked any aging mall anywhere in metro Atlanta as their project. Instead, they chose Tucker’s mall. They chose it because of proximity to the Perimeter, sure, but they also wanted to be part of a close-knit community. That means a community that loves its neighbor, puts others first and, yes, supports its businesses. Tucker is all of those things. When these businesses open over the course of the next year or two, I hope you’ll patronize them as you’ve patronized the countless new businesses we’ve seen open here in Tucker since the pandemic started. At Northlake, and across this city, I believe our best days are right in front of us.
