Shopping Center Business

MAY 2017

Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.

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BATTERY ATLANTA 216 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • May 2017 T aking in a professional baseball game is an experience unto itself, and at SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves, fans are being treated to all the bells and whistles that come with a new $622 million ballpark. Since the announcement was made in late 2013 that the team wasn't extending its 20-year lease at its former ballpark Turner Field, the Braves organization has expressed the desire for its new home to have life beyond game day. "The Braves are always thinking about how to make this a place to visit 365 days a year, not just 81," says Dotan Zuckerman, vice president of leasing at Atlanta-based Fuqua Development, referring to the amount of home games in a baseball sea- son. The Braves announced in July 2014 that Fuqua Development would be its partner for the retail portion of a mixed- use village surrounding SunTrust Park, later named The Battery Atlanta. Situated near the intersection of In- terstates 75 and 285 in Cobb County, the 1.5-million-square-foot development features three apartment communities, an Omni hotel, the Coca-Cola Roxy The- atre, Comcast's 10-story office building known as One Ballpark Center and an assortment of retail, dining and enter- tainment tenants. Jeff Fuqua, principal of Fuqua Development, says the project is unique, even among other mixed-use villages around the country that surround sports stadiums. "We looked at all the similar villages surrounding ballparks and none were like this," says Fuqua. "This is a one-of-a-kind project in the country, where you have a new sports stadium built in a high-end suburban location on major thorough- fares connected to a $450 million mixed- use project. It hasn't happened before." To ensure that the development will attract people year-round, Fuqua Devel- opment and the Braves focused on enter- tainment and experiential tenants, head- lined by the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre. The venue spans 53,000 square feet and has a standing room only capacity of 4,000. The theater will host 40 shows a year, mostly on non-game days. "Having a center full of fashion tenants wouldn't be a big enough draw to pull people off their couches, you really have to create an experience to get people to come to your projects," says Zuckerman. "And what's a better experience than a pro baseball team stadium with a theater?" Big League Development Fuqua Development gives shoppers, diners a reason to visit Battery Atlanta beyond Braves home games. John Nelson Battery Atlanta is a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use village surrounding SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves in Cobb County, Georgia. The development includes retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues, an Omni hotel, three apartment communities and an office building.

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