Costco eyes former Olympic site

Big-box retailer expects to anchor development of ex-tennis center land.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote tonight on an agreement to sell the former Olympic tennis center for $5.6 million to Fuqua Acquisitions, which plans to build a Costco, four restaurants and multifamily housing on the site.

The board in October approved the development on 26 acres near Stone Mountain. At the time, officials would not confirm which retailers were slated for the site, although renderings appeared to show a Costco and Whataburger.

The proposed agreement between the county, its development authority and Fuqua lists Costco as the big-box retailer and Greystar as the multifamily housing developer, but does not include details on the restaurants. One-fifth of the 248 apartments will be set aside for families earning a maximum of 80% of the area median income.

The development will also include green space with playgrounds or similar amenities.

The now-vacant site once held a tennis stadium where Andre Agassi won gold in the 1996 Olympics. Gwinnett County bought the property for $1.2 million in a 2016 land swap with DeKalb County and tore down the stadium.

Developer Jeff Fuqua in 2020 proposed a more upscale development for the site, comparable to his Peachtree Corners Town Center. Officials envisioned it as the “southern gateway” to Gwinnett.

But Fuqua last year said he couldn’t get many retailers interested.

District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku declined to comment Monday on the proposed sale. Fuqua and County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Fuqua will not receive any tax breaks for the development, according to a Gwinnett County spokesperson.

In community meetings and emails, many members of the nearby Mountain Park neighborhood expressed support for a Costco at the site, though some said the land had greater potential.

The property is located in the Park Place Tax Allocation District, where property taxes are earmarked for improvements to the area.

TYLER ESTEP/TYLER.ESTEP@AJC.COM The site of the Stone Mountain Tennis Center, which hosted events during Atlanta’s 1996 Olympics, has now been cleared for redevelopment.