'Really, Really Big Day': Alpharetta City Center Breaks Ground

ALPHARETTA, GA -- The project set to transform downtown Alpharetta into a place of community celebrated another milestone on Thursday.

Hundreds of leaders and stakeholders in the community gathered at the Alpharetta City Center site for a groundbreaking ceremony for phase two of the project.

Plans for Alpharetta City Center have been in the works since 2011 when the city unveiled a blueprint for downtown expansion after a decade of consideration. Construction of the public phase, which consisted of City Hall, Brooke Street Park, Alpharetta Public Library, town green and new roads and sidewalks, began in April 2013 and was completed in 2015.

On March 3, the city closed on the sale of 4.6 acres between City Hall and Main Street to MMS Alpharetta, a group comprised of Morris & Fellows, MidCity Real Estate Partners, and South City Partners, for $5.1 million.

The March 23 groundbreaking ceremony commemorated the start of construction for the private development portion of the project.

"This is a really, really big day," Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle said to the hundreds of people gathered at the site.

Once completed, Alpharetta City Center will house 105,000 square feet of restaurants and retail space in 3 acres of greenspace and gardens, 36,000 square feet of office space, and 168 luxury rental units on five city blocks along Main Street.

It will expand the city's downtown by creating a walkable neighborhood connecting City Hall, the library, public parking and single-family homes.

"This is a great project in a great city, and it really comes from great leadership," Kirk Demetrops, president of MidCity Real Estate Partners, added.

Demetrops also revealed a major business announcement, which will add to Alpharetta's booming technology industry.

Datascan, a company that provides clarity to wholesale loan accounting and manages risk with a holistic auditing solution, is one of the companies that's signed on to relocate to Alpharetta City Center.

With more than 500 full-time associates across North America, 150 of them will soon call Alpharetta home in a new state-of-the-art facility. Those employees are currently housed at a Forsyth County location.

Many Atlanta-area retail and restaurant favorites have also committed to opening locations at City Center, including Highland Bakery, RAW Juice Boutique and Natural Body Spa and Shoppe.

New restaurants such as Lapeer, a seafood marketplace, Holmes, an eclectic style American restaurant, and a new wine and beverage-centric restaurant concept from Vin 25 are also making debuts in the area.

Shoppers can also see several new fashion boutiques, including Brooklyn’s, Branches, Hemline, Perched, and Spirited.

Several restaurants and the office building will be completed in the winter and spring of 2018. Shops will follow from spring through fall, and the apartments are slated to open by the fall of 2018.

Hedgewoods’ homes are under construction, with homeowners moving in this summer. Much of the development of Alpharetta City Center will be fenced to protect the public from construction for at least nine months.

For more information on this new addition to Downtown Alpharetta, visit www.citycenteralpharetta.com.

Photo 1: city leaders and key business partners take part in Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony.

Photo 2: city leaders and future business owners use small shovels to dip into cake signaling where their companies will be housed at City Center.

Photo 3: Mayor David Belle Isle shows the audience the shovels used in the city's most important groundbreaking ceremonies.

Images via Kristal Dixon