Start of North DeKalb Mall demolition draws out politicians, mixed emotions and memories

The long-awaited demolition of North DeKalb Mall had the air of a state funeral, as public officials past and present gathered Wednesday to say goodbye to one era of commercial development while celebrating the start of a new one.

Onlookers gathered under a giant tent erected in the parking lot. Reporters hobnobbed with politicians and residents. Employees of EDENS, the developer behind the project, spoke with emotion as they recounted a three-year planning process to bring the project together. Once it’s gone, North DeKalb Mall will be the site of Lulah Hills, a mixed-use development that officials said is a glimpse of things to come for similarly vacant malls across America.

Lulah Hills will include retail, a hotel, apartments and townhomes. When the project is finished, nearly 2,000 new housing units will be built, most of which will be apartments. The project will set aside 10% of units for workforce housing and will include a retail incubator. The estimated completion date is 2028. The plan also shows nearly 50,000 square feet allocated for a grocery store but doesn’t name the store.

There were no major tenant announcements on Wednesday, but there was some news of note. EDENS has purchased the Meineke car care center and the Golden Corral buffet. EDENS is also under contract to buy the Bank of America Building. An expanded footprint gives EDENS more options and more control. During the redevelopment, the Marshalls will stay open, though AMC will eventually shrink from 16 screens to 11, reflecting the current market for movie theaters. EDENS confirmed that the Golden Corral will remain open for now.

The most striking part of the event, aside from the excavator arm hammering the mall’s facade, was the emotional investment of the players involved in the mall’s redevelopment.

At one point, the entire EDENS team and their family members gathered at the podium, receiving applause and demonstrating their personal commitment to the long-awaited community project.

During his remarks, Herbert Ames, managing director at EDENS, briefly stopped talking as he composed himself before continuing.

Later, as his son took swings at a piñata hung nearby, Ames said the mall is not just another series of lines on a balance sheet for him.

“Our mission is to enrich community,” Ames said. “When you think about real estate in that way … it becomes so much larger than real estate.”

The demolition of the mall is, all parties agreed, a big deal.

Former DeKalb Commissioner Jeff Rader, one of many current and former officials who had a hand in moving this forward, predicted people across the county will be “eager to replicate” what’s happening in central DeKalb.

“I think we’re going to see more stuff like this,” he said.

Rader also said the project is a rebuke to the idea that economic development in the county can only happen under the jurisdiction of a city.

“You don’t necessarily need a municipality to have a high-quality development,” Rader said.

Economic incentives help, and the county’s development authority — Decide DeKalb — backed the project with $70 million in tax reimbursements.

Decide DeKalb President Dorian DeBarr said some of his earliest memories are as a child playing at the mall in its heyday. He said the redevelopment project sends “a powerful message.”

“DeKalb County, Georgia has arrived,” he said, adding that the project has “cracked the code” on redeveloping a site like North DeKalb Mall.

Residents who support the project said attentive listening by EDENS was part of cracking that code. Theresa Same, the zoning chair for the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association, has been through several iterations of development talks for the mall, most of which were rejected by residents for one reason or another. However, EDENS’s approach and vision resonated with the neighborhood this time.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but they did listen to us,” Same said.

Outgoing DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond was among the elected officials who arrived Wednesday to take a victory lap and celebrate the project. At one point, Thurmond’s microphone cut out, and while that would fluster other politicians, Thurmond looked as if he had been untethered as he approached the crowd, his voice raised. Part of the reason the project made headway, he said, is that people learned to stop seeing one community’s gain as another community’s loss. If one community succeeds, he said, all succeed.

Standing in the shadow of the soon-to-be-demolished mall, Thurmond said, “We will leave it a heck of a lot better than we found it.”

Beneath the tent, attendees were invited to leave their hopes and memories on comment cards for the EDENS team to read later. The public, emotionally connected to the mall in many ways, obliged.

“My best memories of North DeKalb were at the Magnolia Room at the top of Rich’s Department store,” one commenter wrote. “It felt very ‘posh’ going to a restaurant inside a clothing store.”

Another commenter urged EDENS to, “make it a great gathering place! It used to be a good place to shop!”

Another reminisced about an old crush.

“I worked at the Singer Sewing Center in 1973, high school job,” she wrote. “Had a crush on the delivery driver. When I pass by the loading area, I’m reminded of those sweet days of being a teen and hanging out a Chick-fil-A and working here. Good luck, Lulah Hills.”

This story was provided by WABE content partner Decaturish.