Major Development Coming to Downtown Alpharetta: Everything You Need to Know
For years, Downtown Alpharetta has been heavily concentrated around the Alpharetta City Center and the Town Green. Now, a new local partnership is building Alpharetta District Places to extend that lively, walkable downtown atmosphere.
The developers, McKibbon Places and Market District Development, recently obtained approval for a tree removal on the site and are moving to break ground on the project at the end of May. The mixed-use development is specifically designed to draw more regional visitors, provide a unique space for locals to gather, and “grow the pie” for existing local businesses.
According to the development team, this project is expected to offer a dynamic mix of chef-driven restaurants, boutique retail, and a proposed 300-350 person live music venue to bolster the “Alpharetta Music City” identity.
The site will also feature a unique business incubator building, broken down into smaller 500-square-foot storefronts, to give emerging small businesses an affordable entry point into the downtown Alpharetta market. Phase 2 of this project is expected later and could bring an additional 195 multi-family units to the downtown area.
The Alpharetta.com team had the opportunity to speak with Erik Rowen, President of McKibbon Places, and Brent Beecham of Market District Development to discover the overarching vision for Alpharetta District Places, address common misconceptions about the project, and learn what the community can expect, with Phase 1 projected to open in late 2027.
For our readers who might be hearing about your companies for the first time, what other projects are your teams working on?
Erik Rowen: “McKibbon Places is breaking ground on a 287,000-square-foot project in the Tampa Channel District with 4 food and beverage outlets, retail, an integrated parking deck, and a rooftop bar. This project is a 23-month job based on our contract.
We just opened a Hilton Garden Inn in Cape Canaveral with a curated food and beverage operation. We’re currently working on hotel projects in Clearwater Beach and Charlottesville, Virginia and mixed-use projects in Gulfport, Mississippi and Madison, Mississippi. Brent and I work well together, and our skill sets complement each other.
That’s why we feel like we’re bringing something special here with Alpharetta District Places.”
Brent Beecham: “Market District Development has a project in downtown Woodstock called Adair Park. Also, we have Market District Crabapple in the downtown Milton/Crabapple area. This Milton development has 4 buildings, and we’re about to add a 5th office building.
In Alpharetta, we are now completing two new buildings and the restoration of a historic home on North Main Street. Our company is focused on rebuilding downtowns with mixed-use projects, including restaurants, retail, and residential opportunities, and weaving our projects into the downtowns that exist.
Erik and I got together a couple of years ago on this Alpharetta District Places project and saw real synergies between ourselves.”
What is the overarching scope for "Alpharetta District Places," and how will it contribute to the feel of the downtown area?
Rowen: “One thing that’s really important to us is we want to grow the pie for businesses in downtown Alpharetta. We don’t want to take any business away from other businesses in the downtown area.
We are trying to bring in retailers and restaurateurs that have followings outside of Alpharetta proper, so we’re going to be bringing more people to Alpharetta to shop and eat. When these people visit, they will be able to see all the other amazing things that Alpharetta has to offer, and shop and dine outside of Alpharetta District Places.
With this project, we are focused on growing the overall interest in Alpharetta.”
Beecham: “We want to bring in more visitors from other cities to downtown Alpharetta who aren’t just the locals. When people visit Alpharetta, they tend to shop and dine at Avalon instead of the downtown area. The area that Avalon draws is massive and stretches all across Metro Atlanta, and downtown Alpharetta is super local.
That’s why right now, when a new business opens up, it tends to impact a second business. If we’re bringing in more visitors outside the immediate area, everybody will be growing, and the visitors will see all the other cool things Alpharetta has to offer.”
What are the most common misconceptions about the project?
Rowen: “The biggest misconception is that when we start phase 1 in May, we’re going to be tearing down the existing retail center on Main Street. That is a misconception. We’re still working on the programming for that project. Our big focus is getting phase 1 up and running while we revisit the program for phase 2.
Also, many people think that Alpharetta District Places, phase 2 specifically, will bring more traffic to downtown Alpharetta, which is a misconception. Our team has supported these conclusions with engineering studies and market studies that support the idea that the level of service at all the intersections would not be downgraded.
We’ve worked with traffic engineers on our traffic studies, and they are trained and certified and have very strict standards. We’ve also conducted traffic simulations and taken extra steps because we wanted to make sure that we were correct that it wouldn’t cause traffic problems.
Phase 1 gives Brent and me an opportunity to prove ourselves to the community. All the business owners and a lot of the residents know us, and they know that we want to do something in the interest of Alpharetta and to make it better and do something for the long run. We’re going to be here for a long time; we aren’t just building this and moving on.”
Beecham: “I think the biggest misconception was our phase 2 plan, which has nothing to do with what we are about to do in phase 1. We were looking for a multi-family project that we thought would help populate downtown without adding cars.
If you look at the Amorance apartments and townhomes in downtown Alpharetta, it’s filled with residents moving from a big house in Milton to a smaller home where walking through downtown or walking to work is their amenity.
I think that everyone assumed that putting in apartments in phase 2 was going to drive traffic or that the tenant mix wouldn’t be something they thought would be desirable for Alpharetta. We did our studies and found out that the average age was going to be mid 50s, and most of the people were either working from home, retired, or they had flexible hours that they could choose to leave when they wanted to.
Those are the two biggest misconceptions of our project: A. That we were going to tear down and kick out all these businesses B. That we were going to bring a lot of traffic. For the businesses currently there, they have leases and legally binding documents, so no one is getting kicked out.”
What categories of tenants are you actively pursuing to anchor the district?
Rowen: “There will be chef-driven concepts where you know the owner and chef, not national franchises. Even if it’s a second location, these are the types of businesses that will be there.
Our ambition for Building “D” [see above picture] is to get a group to come in and operate the downstairs as a restaurant with outdoor dining on 3 sides. Then, the upstairs becomes around a 350-person music venue. We think this would bring another element to downtown Alpharetta to really give it some unique entertainment it doesn’t currently have.
There are many people in North Fulton who love original music, but they don’t want to drive to Midtown to listen to a regional band or artist. In Alpharetta, we call ourselves “Alpharetta Music City”, and we see this venue contributing to that.”
Beecham: “We have some letters of intent right now, and we’re just waiting to sort out the final pieces for the actual construction. We are looking at second or third locations in Atlanta for popular restaurants and retailers. With the Alpha Loop right on our Roswell Street side, there might be a dog-related store because people will be walking their dogs on the street there.
Erik and I have an absolute passion for bringing touring artists to Alpharetta. Alpharetta has the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, where you can see massive bands, but we are targeting the next level down, where the guys are trying to become the next act. I think there are enough people in Alpharetta who have an interest in music for this venue to be a big success.
We built Building “C” [see above picture] to break it down into 400-500 square-foot pieces, which will give some opportunity for small businesses that can’t afford the average store location. We are hoping that this building would almost be a business incubator and could host any business from clothing to food to dog treats.”
What kind of events or other opportunities will there be for residents and visitors to take part in?
Rowen: “This isn’t really related to us; it’s more related to our partnership with the City. Having a proposed city passive park at our development, with our project wrapping around it, is very unique. It’s uncommon for a mixed-use project to be able to have a park with mature trees and with trails integrated into the development.
So I think that’s very unique, and hopefully we’ll be able to partner with the City and be able to help activate it, so people in the community will want to use this park. Whether it’s possibly some live music or something else, it will give people a place to go after they’ve spent time at the park.
Also, the Alpha Loop is a huge amenity for Alpharetta. We’ve had multiple people make comparisons to the Atlanta Beltline. While we’re not trying to be exactly like the Beltline, having a major pedestrian thoroughfare that creates connectivity within the city at our front door presents a huge opportunity for us.
We have tons of outdoor dining, so when people are walking down the Alpha Loop, it’s going to be really hard not to stop by for a meal or drink.”
Beecham: “With our development and the proposed passive park, it will give a space for people to come together. It provides a space to bring your kids to play and have an ice cream at the ice cream shop we put in, or meet up with your friends for a morning coffee or lunch then sit in the park.
The new section of the Alpha Loop on the edge of our property creates something very unique for Alpharetta and can become a big draw over time.
If you look at Highway 9, they’re adding massive sidewalks on both sides, all the way through Milton and down to Roswell. If you factor in the people walking these paths or riding their scooters and bicycles, you suddenly have a separate traffic pattern that’s not vehicular, and you’re starting to see more and more of that in our area.”
What is the target completion date for phase 1 of the development?
Beecham: “We should be finished by the summer of 2027, then we’ll be able to start putting tenants in to allow them to do their buildouts. Usually, it takes around 3-6 months after that. Hopefully, we should see open businesses by late fall of 2027.”
What are your team's immediate next steps, and what are some final words to the Alpharetta community about the project?
Rowen: “One of the most important themes is that we truly care about Alpharetta and the downtown area. We are residents and business owners here, and we want to do something that everyone will be really proud of.
We’re continuing to get additional tenant mix finalized, and we have gotten a lot of interest. As soon as we start coming out of the ground, we’re going to start signing leases.”
Beecham: “Our next steps include finishing up our land disturbance permit requirements, completing our last bits of architecture, and getting the pricing finalized with our general contractor.
It all becomes real when you start seeing dirt move, and we should start construction at the end of May.”