North Fulton: The Place to Be

Avalon in Alpharetta is a prime example of that success. Since opening in 2014, it set a new standard for mixed-use developments. At 2.3 million square feet, the $600 million project combines retail, Class A office space, luxury multifamily residences and single-family homes. There is also a 330-room Autograph Collection hotel and 65,000-square-foot conference center on the 86-acre property, which has become a magnet for newcomers.

“What we’ve been trying to do here in Alpharetta is make Alpharetta the best place in Georgia to build a business and raise a family,” Mayor Jim Gilvin says. “That’s been our goal for the last 10 years.”

Tremendous Amenities: Jim Gilvin, mayor of Alpharetta. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

In 1980, there were only 3,000 people in the city, and today Alpharetta boasts more than 68,000 residents. Gilvin credits that growth to investments made decades ago in creating a robust fiber optic system that attracted technology companies.

“We have just a tremendous technology and innovation ecosystem,” he says. “We have over 900 technology companies in the city of Alpharetta. We have over 8,200 [technology-related] jobs.”

Alpharetta has also carved a niche for itself in fintech. The city is home to numerous fintech companies, including Global Payments, a Fortune 500 financial and payments technology company, and Fiserv, a global fintech and payments company that serves nearly 10,000 financial institutions.

But it takes more than a fast internet connection to be competitive in today’s business environment, Gilvin says, noting companies are also looking for office space that is “amenitized.”

“We have 20 million square feet of Class A office space,” Gilvin says, adding that the city is being very intentional to update and add amenities to all its older office parks. “We’ve done that by investing in infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, walking trails and parks,” he says.

A prime example, according to Gilvin, is a $15 million investment by the city in trails to connect downtown Alpharetta with office parks along Northwinds Parkway and Haynes Bridge Road. In addition, last year the city’s development authority launched a grant program to incentivize office owners and tenants to create public trail connections and greenspace, says Economic Development Manager Lance Morsell.

“It’s a 10% match, up to $15,000,” he says. “A lot of these older office parks have large parking lots that we’d like to see transformed into central greenspace.”

The mayor says the city has also been working “very hard” to give support and incentives to convert 1990s office space into mixed-use environments incorporating retail and residential.

“Southwest Value Partners is converting the Hewlett-Packard building into a mixed-use environment,” he says. “They’ve already pulled permits for the first phase of the development which will be to update and change the existing office space to incorporate retail, residential, and food and beverage.”

Hewlett-Packard sold the property to the California-based real estate investment company, but remains in the existing office building, according to Kathi Cook, Alpharetta’s community development director.

Located on Windward Parkway and Westside Parkway, Continuum is a 52-acre mixed-use development that will include 1.3 million square feet of office, nearly 74,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 98 homes and 280 apartments. Gilvin says renovation of the 517,000-square-foot existing office building is underway. Plans call for an additional 808,000 square feet of new office space in multiple buildings.

Growing Industries: Kathi Cook, community development director of Alpharetta. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

“By adding the amenities to these office parks, it makes them more attractive to the companies and their workers and that provides additional amenities for the residents nearby,” he says. “I think what we’re doing in Alpharetta harkens back to the way cities used to be built before America was all car-centric. People used to be able to walk to the grocery store and to school.”

Helping Alpharetta create its unique sense of place is True North 400, formerly the North Fulton Community Improvement District, a self-taxing district focused on advancing infrastructure projects that enhance the livability, walkability and accessibility of North Fulton.

True North partnered with the city to help pay for upgrades to the new Kimball Bridge, including wider sidewalks and landscaping.

“It looks much nicer than a standard bridge,” says True North Deputy Executive Director Kristin Winzeler. “We have invested about $30 million in … 21 years to advance more than $217 million worth of improvement in our district.”

Creating Connections: A new section of the Alpha Loop trail, which includes a tunnel under Westside Parkway and an overlook bridge, opened in June, connecting Old Milton Parkway to Northwinds Parkway. Photo credit: contributed

On top of its robust technology environment, Alpharetta is also home to a growing life sciences industry, says Cook. Pajunk USA, a German-based company that manufactures devices for regional anesthesia, is expanding, she says. Regional anesthesia allows a surgical procedure to be done on a region of the body without the patient being unconscious.

“They have three expansion areas,” Cook says. “They are tripling the size of their clean room [where they manufacture procedural trays], adding 18,000 square feet to their warehouse and building out the second floor of their existing office building. They’ve grown enough to finish off the second floor to accommodate more employees.”

Wellness and More

Alpharetta’s neighbor to the southeast, Johns Creek, is already a well-established area for bio and life sciences. Georgia Bio, a nonprofit, membership-based organization that promotes the interests and growth of the life sciences industry in Georgia, designated the city as the state’s first gold level BioReady Community last November.

“Our strategic focus has been Johns Creek [as] a hub for health, wellness and innovation,” says Mayor John Bradberry. “Bio-ready communities or cities are designed for a bio or life science business to get up and running quickly. We’re open for business in general, but especially for that industry.”

Georgia Bio uses a rating system to determine a community’s readiness to host biotechnology facilities based on its zoning practices and infrastructure capacity.

“Zoning, utilities, code compliance, those things are sometimes a big stumbling block if they’re not already in place,” Bradberry says.

In 2021, there were about 4,000 employees in the life sciences industry in Johns Creek, according to Kim Allonce, the city’s economic development director.

Mixed-Use Development: Rendering of Continuum, which will include office and retail space as well as condominiums and apartments. Photo credit: contributed

“Since 2015, the state has seen 20% growth in bio and life sciences jobs,” he says. “Our growth aligns with the state trend. We are awaiting the next data update, but we would expect it to show an increase in the number of these jobs in Johns Creek.”

Allonce points to the construction of a new manufacturing and supply chain facility by Boston Scientific as evidence of continued growth in the space. Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific designs, develops and manufactures medical devices and therapies used across a range of medical specialties, including endoscopy, cardiology, peripheral interventions, oncology, urology and neurology. According to the company, its more than 17,000 products are used to treat approximately 30 million patients around the world each year.

“It’s $62.5 million investment in the [Johns Creek] Town Center,” he says, “that is slated to bring about 340 jobs to the county in the next seven years.”

Meanwhile, transformation of a 192-acre business park into a vibrant walkable area continues, Allonce says. Plans call for a new 43-acre, mixed-use retail district, within the town center, called Medley, and a new linear park with pedestrian pathways, a lakefront amphitheater, a boardwalk, fountains and a community playground.

“Medley is going to be a game changer in the sense that it will create the amenities that we know employees and employers are looking for,” Allonce says. “The shops and the restaurants will further opportunities for us to attract more companies to within the town center.”

Medley will include 200,000 square feet of retail, approximately 110,000 square feet of office space, about 750 luxury apartments and about 150 townhomes.

“From the land purchase to build-out, Medley is a $450 million project,” he says. “We anticipate the groundbreaking to occur by the end of this year or early in 2025. Once they break ground, we’re looking at a 24-month [construction] schedule.”

Making Upgrades: The renovated Kimball Bridge over Georgia 400, above, which opened in May, was paid for in part by the Community Improvement District, True North 400, says the CID’s Deputy Executive Director Kristin Winzeler, above right. Photo credit: contributed

Rural Suburbia

As Johns Creek works to create its town center, development of Crabapple, the heart of Milton, is nearly complete, according to Mayor Peyton Jamison.

Big Projects: Kim Allonce, economic development director for Johns Creek. Photo contributed

“Crabapple is almost built out according to the plan that was adopted in 2011,” he says. “All of this was done based on the community input back in 2006 when the city was created.”

While Crabapple is home to several community anchors, including Milton City Hall, the Milton Library and many of the city’s schools, Milton is in the process of creating another hub focused on commercial development, Jamison says.

“As we continue to grow, our No. 1 goal is to continue to preserve our rural landscape,” he says. “Part of that plan is to shift our economic development efforts onto Highway 9. It’s important because it is our last area that is zoned for commercial and that sort of commercial density, and we have put a lot of money and resources into that to make it a destination kind of like Crabapple is.”

In addition to offering developers incentives like stormwater infrastructure to build on lots of three acres or more, the city is also able to control growth via an urban growth boundary. The strictly enforced boundary includes a sewer map, according to Anita Jupin, the city’s economic engagement manager.

“What sets Milton apart as well is that less than 2% of the city has commercial zoning,” she says. “We’re primarily residential and agricultural zoning and we work closely with farmers and large lot owners so that we can maintain that greenspace.”

Game Changer: Rendering of Medley, a development within the Johns Creek Town Center that will include stores, restaurants, office space, luxury apartments and townhomes. Photo contributed

There is one day a year, however, when the city’s population nearly doubles: Milton’s signature fall event, Crabapple Fest, is held on the first Saturday of October, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and draws upwards of 35,000 people, Jupin says.

“Downtown completely transforms into a bustling market,” she says. “There’s food trucks, live music and children’s activities. This year we have probably the most [vendor] applications ever, a little over 200, and we can only accept 100.”

Future Transit Hub

As Milton continues to focus on preserving its rural heritage, Roswell is setting its sights on becoming a hub for future transit, according to Mayor Kurt Wilson. Some viewers of this summer’s Paris Olympics may have gotten a glimpse of what that looks like: electric aerial vehicles coming and going from a landing facility called a vertiport.

“Roswell’s going to be the first to market to create a vertiport in the metro market, really in the state of Georgia,” he says. “I can see a future where Roswell is home to a vertiport that connects to the airport.”

Improving Mobility: Kali Boatright, president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

A vertiport would complement the city’s new $20 million parking garage, which aims to boost economic development efforts.

“We just created a public facilities authority because the city of Roswell is getting into the parking garage business, [similar to] the model in Greenville, S.C.,” he says. “One of the things we’re after long term is to get property taxes off the backs of our residents, and creating new revenue streams that will fund the function and agency of the city of Roswell government is how we do that.”

Heart of Milton: The Crabapple region is home to Milton City Hall, Milton Library and many of the city’s schools. Photo credit: contributed

A vertiport would do more than just bolster the city’s coffers, says Steve Stroud, executive director of Roswell, Inc., an economic and business development organization for the city. It would cement its reputation as a center of transportation and help grow its ties to the electric vehicle industry. Roswell is home to Lucid Motors service and delivery center, and Rivian is in the process of building a service and experience center, which is expected to open next year, according to Stroud.

“Roswell continues to look at transportation and the aeronautical industry of the future as complementing the auto industry here that has the strongest sales in the metro area,” he says.

In more good economic development news, Southern Post, Roswell’s first mixed-use development, officially opens this month, Stroud says. The development includes 90,000 square feet of Class A office space, 40,000 square feet of retail and about 130 multi-family units. Vestis, a provider of uniforms and workplace supplies, has moved its corporate headquarters to Southern Post and is occupying 45,000 square feet of office space.

A Roswell First: Southern Post, the city’s foremost mixed-use development, includes loft-style offices, retail, apartments and townhomes, greenspaces and a common area plaza space. Photo credit: contributed

Attracting Business

Being located at the juncture of busy interstates is a blessing and a curse, according to Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul. Five Fortune 500 companies call Sandy Springs home, but years of major reconstruction of the I-285 interchange at Georgia 400 has “really disrupted” economic development in the city, Paul says.

Music on the Green: Sandy Springs hosts a series of free outdoor concerts from April through October. Photo credit: contributed

“Traffic, which is always a mess in Atlanta, has been particularly messy here in Sandy Springs and surrounding areas,” he says. But better days are ahead.

“With … work complete on the I-285-400 Interchange, we continue our focus on the 400 express lanes and bus rapid transit initiatives which will further improve mobility and safety for commuters,” says Kali Boatright, president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Paul is also glad to see some of the transportation projects winding down.

“[With interchange construction substantially complete], it’s much less of a challenge now than it was. The goal through that and the pandemic was to hold onto what you’ve got.”

And hold on it did. In June, the city announced Newell Brands signed a 180,000-square-foot lease at the Queen Tower at Concourse Office Park for its new global headquarters. The parent company of consumer goods products like Rubbermaid, Sharpie and Graco, Newell is moving from its current location on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, where it has been since 2003. The new headquarters represents a consolidation of all Newell Brands’ Atlanta-based employees.

With five of its six cities ranked among the best places to live in Georgia Niche (which ranked Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and Milton as its top three, Roswell fifth and Sandy Springs ninth) North Fulton County continues to raise the bar for live, work, play.