Olympic center becomes a Costco site

Ex-tennis center location also will have restaurants, apartments.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners late Tuesday voted unanimously to sell the tennis center site from the 1996 Olympics to Fuqua Acquisitions, which plans a Costco, four restaurants and 248 apartments, including affordable housing, on the now-vacant parcel.

Commissioners said they hoped the sale would spark reinvestment in the historically underserved Park Place area near Stone Mountain.

“I am excited about this development and what it will mean for current and future residents to be able to access shopping, dining, and employment opportunities right in their backyard,” District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku said in a release. “The addition of green space will also complement the proximity to Stone Mountain’s natural resources and make it a welcoming place to gather.”

Ku and others initially expressed skepticism last year when developer Jeff Fuqua changed his proposal for the 26-acre site, which he had pitched in 2020 as a shopping center comparable to the one he developed in Peachtree Corners. Fuqua also developed The Exchange in Buford, anchored by a Sprouts, and the retail portion of The Battery at Truist Park.

But Fuqua said last year that almost none of the retailers his company had worked with were interested in the location just east of Stone Mountain. And many neighbors supported a Costco in the area, noting that the closest one is 13 congested miles away in Duluth.

Fuqua has declined to name the restaurants planned for the development, but one appears in renderings to be a Whataburger, the Texas-based chain that also has a location at The Exchange.

“We believe we put together a great mixed-use redevelopment offering that will be a great benefit to this part of the county,” Fuqua said in the release.

One-fifth, or 50, of the apartments will be set aside for families earning a maximum of 80% of the area median income. The development also will include green space with playgrounds or similar amenities.

Gwinnett County bought the property for $1.2 million in a 2016 land swap with DeKalb County and tore down the stadium. The county, through its development authority, is selling the property for $5.6 million.

Fuqua and its development partners will spend about $158.8 million to redevelop the site, the release said. The project is expected to create 520 permanent retail and dining jobs, 300 of them through Costco, and about 400 construction jobs, county officials said.

The property falls within the Park Place Tax Allocation District, where property taxes are earmarked for improvements to the area.

County Attorney Mike Ludwiczak told commissioners the development is estimated to generate almost $28 million for area redevelopment. He also said a portion of the $4.4 million profit that the county will make from the sale will be reinvested in the Park Place master plan that the board approved in December, which includes more affordable housing and transit improvements.