What’s in Store for The Forum Peachtree Corners for 2024

Brooke Massey, Director of Leasing for North American Properties, handles four locations in metro Atlanta – including The Forum Peachtree Corners. She shares the behind-the-scenes stories of bringing new and exciting tenants to this retail destination. Learn about the community input that shaped the vision for The Forum, the diverse culinary offerings coming to the center, and the plans for creating a vibrant hub for community events and entertainment. She shares with host Rico Figliolini her insights into the curated retail mix and plans for future additions.

The Forum Website: https://theforumpeachtree.com/

Timestamp:

00:00:00 – Revitalizing Peachtree Corners: Brooke Massey’s Insights
00:01:36 – Revitalizing the Community Through Tenant Curation
00:03:51 – Suburban Shift: Peachtree Corners’ Evolving Demographic
00:06:25 – Nando’s Expansion into North America
00:07:47 – Outdoor Dining and Food Hall Plans
00:09:26 – Communal Kitchens and Upcoming Developments at The Forum
00:10:51 – Utilizing LED Screens and Stages for Community Gatherings
00:13:08 – Premiere Pastries and Bakery Opening
00:14:30 – Curating the Retail Mix: Welcoming New Offerings
00:16:07 – Transforming Vacant Storefronts into Vibrant Spaces
00:17:50 – Exploring the Charm of Peachtree Corners

Podcast Transcript:

Transcript:

Rico Figliolini 0:00:01

Hey, everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life. We are in the wow room with a great wow person here at the Forum at Peachtree Parkway. This is Brooke Massey, and she’s going to be discussing a little bit about what’s going on at the Forum here in Peachtree Corners. Why don’t you introduce yourself, Brooke?

Brooke Massey 0:00:19

As you just said, my name is Brooke Massey, and I’ve been with North American Properties for almost eight years now, and I work on our four reals Atlanta assets that includes Avalon in Alpharetta, Colony Square in midtown Avenue, East Cobb in Marietta, and the Forum here in Peachtree Corners.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:37

You’re going all around.

Brooke Massey 0:00:39

I am, I am. It’s fun. They’re all four different assets with different personalities, and it’s exciting to kind of be able to put my touch on all of them.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:51

Well, especially this one. I mean, this one is. We’re a suburb of Gwinnett county. The others are not even in Gwinnett county.

Brooke Massey 0:00:58

Right, right.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:59

So a little different than demographic wise and even in shopping, consumerism, I guess, to a degree. So when you’re looking at a place like this and essentially you’re revamping this place.

Brooke Massey 0:01:11

Correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:01:12

So it’s a whole. So what’s the thought? What goes behind the thinking of what needs to come here? How do you arrive at those things?

Brooke Massey 0:01:19

I mean, for us, this is a true redevelopment, where we are adding additional GLA and true redevelopment. And from the retail perspective, at the very beginning, with due diligence, we really dive into demographics that you just refer to. What is the existing community. We also reach out through social channels and ask and inquire what did people want to see coming. And we also dig into existing retail sales as well as surrounding retailers in those sales, because that can also tell you what businesses people are supporting. And then from there, really looking at what are the relevant tenants. Today, we are very focused on brand design, beautiful design, from tenants that really want to showcase their brand on our property. And really just making sure we provide a good mix of kind of at national and local level. There’s a lot that goes into merchandising a redevelopment like the Forum, I would think.

Rico Figliolini 0:02:24

I think at the beginning, when north american properties actually bought the place, there was a lot of community meetings. Of course, people are funny in a way. They want to stay what’s comfortable. What’s comfortable is not always the best thing, because things, you know, you could end up with a goodwill in a place if you just let it keep going. So when you guys took over there were literally, I think there were 16 closed stores here. That’s changed quite a bit. Even in the short time that you guys have been here, you’ve brought in a lot of different types of retail, a little bit more niche, a little bit more boutique brand stuff. And then other businesses have left, like recently, the CPK, which you could argue that that’s been around for a long time. They went through bankruptcy two years ago.

Brooke Massey 0:03:16

2020 was bankruptcy. And that’s an example of a brand who really never invested in their stores. You know, they really didn’t update menu items. They just, I think, relied on, you know, what their brand was 15 years ago. And I think people want and expect a different dining experience today. And I think they just, you know, never reinvented themselves. And here was an example of just one of three. Atlanta. I guess that would be four closings throughout Atlanta.

Rico Figliolini 0:03:46

Yes, I think it was four in Atlanta. So, you know, the part that I think people are, there’s more people that have moved into Peachtree Corners over the last probably five years, or I should say because of COVID moved back to Peachtree Corners. Right. You have a younger demographic that have moved back with their parents. Maybe they can’t afford to buy a house, so they’re just living wherever you can or renting. There’s certainly a lot more apartment complexes being developed, finally coming to fruition, if you will. Does that drive a little bit because of the demographics?

Brooke Massey 0:04:18

It does. I think that pre COVID, you already had an influx of people moving out to the suburban markets, but then COVID hit, and that accelerated it. And so what has happened is you’ve had people that have lived in town, and they know what’s in town. Dining and shopping and the experience that you get in downtown, I’m sorry, in town. And so they come back out here to Peachtree Corners, and, you know, you still, there’s lots of things that are great about the suburbs, and they want to be in the suburbs, but your tastes have changed. Right. You know, what you’ve had before. And so I think that that shift in the community here has definitely happened. And that’s where, from a leasing perspective, we really do try to balance that of bringing some in town brands and kind of that feel of in town. But it’s also the challenge of convincing retailers that are in town that the suburbs are also, you know, somewhere that they could thrive as well. So it’s kind of a two lane street.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:16

Yeah, yeah, I get that. Because in town, it’s more dense. Right. And coming out here is not as dense so restaurants I like down there, Ponds City Market or on the belt line. Some of the shops would probably be great here, but would take a little time because there’s not enough density for those types of.

Brooke Massey 0:05:35

That’s where, you know, what we’re doing. With the redevelopment here, the foot traffic that we see today will only continue to increase. And so my job is to be able to sell the vision of what this will be in 12, 18, 24 months and five years from now. And, you know, the programming, the eventing, just the additional restaurants we’re adding, all of that is where it’ll, you know, raise all sales and productivity of tenants. And so sharing that with those kind of in town brands and having them believe what we’re doing.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:07

Yes, it’s convincing. Yeah, you got to be convincing. And the brands are coming here. So we have a new mexican restaurant coming in.

Brooke Massey 0:06:17

Not Mexican. Nando’s.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:19

I’m sorry?

Brooke Massey 0:06:19

Nando’s. It’s south african.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:22

I was going to say. Right.

Brooke Massey 0:06:22

Yeah. Peri Peri chicken. That’s a really exciting brand because it’s a global brand. So to have a brand like Nando’s recognize Peachtree Cornerss and north american and what we’re doing, I think, is really special. And we chose that restaurant specifically. I went after them because I thought that they were a great fit for this market with that family focus. You know, they have reasonably priced food, great cocktails, $9.99 lunch right now on their website where you can get a lunch for $10 with high quality food. I mean, chick fil a, you can’t even.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:59

No, not for that price. No.

Brooke Massey 0:07:00

So that’s kind of where their target market is, that consumer with family focus. But then, you know, they have great cocktails. They’re going to do a fantastic large patio that we’re working on. And they. And that’s one of the things going back to the property of when we acquired it, of wanting to engage that public realm with outdoor dining that doesn’t really exist today.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:23

No, it doesn’t. I mean, there are some outdoor places, but it’s not the same thing as I see at Avalon or some of the other places.

Brooke Massey 0:07:30

We’re working on that.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:31

Yes. One of the things my 27 year old daughter would love, because she ends up at the Avalon, eating with her friends and stuff. Then she says it’s crowded there and everything, but she still loves going there. And it’s not quite there yet here.

Brooke Massey 0:07:44

No, we still have a ways to go, but that’s where our vision is definitely taken from. The success of Avalon and we know it works. Right. And people do like outdoor dining, and you do like to be around people. You know, the buzz of having that vibe that you get at Avalon. And to do that, you have to create a mix of restaurants. And what we’re doing here, you know, with all the.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:10

With all the work that’s going on here, we’re at the wow room, which is between. Which ones are they? The retail stores we have.

Brooke Massey 0:08:19

So it’s like sugar. Sugar coat.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:23

Yeah, sugar coat on the other and next door to that, I think, will be the Pauletin row, which tell us a little bit about that and give us an idea when you think that might be coming.

Brooke Massey 0:08:33

So we have a great relationship with Pauleton Rowe and have them at our development down in midtown. And we are very excited that they were interested and, you know, are big supporters of the suburban market and believers in what we’re doing out here. And so we are currently in the midst of design with them still. It’s been a long process. It’s going to have around seven stalls. I can’t share the details of what’s coming in there yet, but it’ll be the mix that you see in most food halls. Right. Everything from kind of like your pizzas to ethnic cuisine. It’s smaller on the seven stalls they’re getting ready to submit for permits, and it will probably be more of an early spring 25 opening.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:18

Okay, so these are scratch kitchens, essentially, or.

Brooke Massey 0:09:22

Yeah, they share a communal kitchen. So it’s. Yeah, it’s a little bit of a different setup. Pauleton Row is the one that actually handles the leasing of all those stalls. I don’t do that directly, but, yeah, they do. They do a great job, sort of.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:35

So that’s one end of. Then we have the other end. That’s actually the under construction. The team here at the forum did a great video about showing the direction of the cars. You know, which way they should go where they shouldn’t.

Brooke Massey 0:09:48

The flight attendant video.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:49

Yes. That was beautiful. So there’s a lot of construction going on on that part. And that’s the part that’s going to have the concierge set up, I think a two story building on that side.

Brooke Massey 0:09:59

We do so anchored on this end of the north. We have the north plaza, which is open with the green space and will be the food hall and the two jewel boxes up here. And then on the south plaza, we’ll have a valet concierge, a large green space, and we will be constructing a jewel box with a rooftop that’ll be cool. So that’ll be one of the restaurants that I can’t announce yet, but we do have something in the works for that space. And all of that should be delivered by July. As far as delivered of the green space, the concierge and ballet and of.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:34

Course the, the retail.

Brooke Massey 0:10:36

The restaurant will still have to do their build out.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:38

Will the beast stage on that side too?

Brooke Massey 0:10:41

Yes, I left that out. Yes. That is now kind of one of our would say calling cards for all of our north american properties. Now these led screens and stages where we can do, whether it’s comedy night or live music, we really are utilizing them across our portfolio as much as we can.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:59

The whole idea is to be communal in a way, right. So that people don’t leave, that people come here, kids, family, that they can enjoy the, the aspects of eating and maybe going out to outside and just hanging out.

Brooke Massey 0:11:12

Yeah, I mean, I live in town and find, I mean, we came all the way up here for Bunny hop for Easter and, you know, I don’t have a place directly close to me, you know, that’s like this to where I can take my toddler and husband and we can dine and eat and like run around. And so that’s really what that plaza will be the anchor of the property for. Not only just events, but just the daily, you know, someone who wants to read a book in the green space or, you know, bring their lunch out there.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:40

So across the street we have town center, which is Petri Corners town center. A little different. I mean, they do concerts out there. Five, 6000 people may show up for a cover band. So it’s only been cover bands. Actually. They’re going to start with Taylor Swift as their first sometime in May and that’s going to blow it out. But, but those people definitely will be here, I’m sure to. Do you want to check out the restaurants and eat here? I know that you all do. I think it’s Thursday night. It’s music night. Yes. Tell us how that works.

Brooke Massey 0:12:13

So our marketing team and events, they do a phenomenal job with our senior supporting our events here. Coming up, we have ladies night out next week, which is the 25th, and that’s fine. They do a pop up market. You’ve got flower carts. Retailers do promotions, champagne. It’s always good an excuse to get your friends together to come out and not only just shop, but spend time together. And then we start our signature events in May and those run from May to October. And those are weekly events like the little peaches for the small kids. As well as forum fit. We’ll be doing it on the north Plaza for now, but once the large South Plaza opens, it’ll give us an opportunity to host the larger events and really use it.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:56

Interestingly enough, too, there’s the bakery, Julia’s bakery, premier pastries and bakers.

Brooke Massey 0:13:03

Yes, they are a true italian bakery. They will be starting baking from scratch at 04:00 a.m.?

Rico Figliolini 0:13:08

Really?

Brooke Massey 0:13:08

Yeah.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:09

Okay. So I’m an italian heritage. I’m going to be checking it out because I want to. It’s premiere, so we’ll see. Hopefully it’ll be good. Genuine stuff at four in the morning.

Brooke Massey 0:13:19

Yeah, they start baking at 04:00 a.m.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:21

They’re beating out Dunkin donuts.

Brooke Massey 0:13:23

I can’t wait. I was just picking in earlier today. It’s a beautiful build, all that they’ve done.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:28

Yeah, they keep sharing it on instagram and I keep tagging, sharing it on ours as well. But that’s one place. Then you have Pesci restaurant. You have the Nando’s that’s coming in. You also have a couple of empty spots like Mambo’s, what used to be Mambo’s restaurant a long time ago.

Brooke Massey 0:13:46

Anything without being able. I wish I could give you more, but we do have active leases going on that space, the mambo space, and then the California pizza kitchen space as well.

Rico Figliolini 0:14:01

Wow.

Brooke Massey 0:14:01

And then I only really have one small space left. That would really be what we call kind of for a fast casual, somewhere in the health kind of category, which is over kind of on that. Chopped pilates, healthy, wealthy. Yeah, we call it wellness way on this way.

Rico Figliolini 0:14:20

There you go.

Brooke Massey 0:14:21

And so, yeah, I don’t have a whole lot of restaurants remaining. And as far as, you know, what’s to come? I will say we very carefully merchandise our retail mix and we always want to make sure that we are providing an offering that’s not already in the market. And so, you know, I kind of mentioned some sushi earlier, maybe some Persian. I think it’s some. All of the items would be something that I think the community would welcome.

Rico Figliolini 0:14:49

You know what I like, too? I think the forum has quite a few pop up stores that come in and out testing the products. How do you arrive at, like, doing that?

Brooke Massey 0:15:00

And that’s one of the ways kind of going back to, like, what works here. Right. And so when we, we have a combination of when tenants, you know, reach out to us, I tend to unfortunately say no more than yes because we again kind of very carefully curate the mix. But if I come across a tenant that I think, like, you know what I would like to see, like, how would the market support this? And it’s kind of brand aligned with us. We have a specialty leasing department and team, and so they handle all of our pop up tenants. And, you know, they also are out looking and searching for tenants that they think would be a good fit here. And it’s a way for kind of a win win. You know, you’re able to and see how a tenant does here, and they can also test the market, and it’s.

Rico Figliolini 0:15:45

Low capital, and you get to vary the mix on a quick time basis so it’s not stale.

Brooke Massey 0:15:54

You don’t want vacancy. To your point, we had tons of vacancy right when we first acquired the property. And it feels very different when you walk property and you have open storefronts, whether it’s really something you want to shop at or not, it still feels better to have that energy.

Rico Figliolini 0:16:09

I mean, when you have energy, I was going to say, when you have that energy, it’s a whole different field to replace. And so once the. The buildout’s done, to a degree, I mean, the next step would be, I think it’s the multifamily. Yes. And any idea when that. Because that’ll change some of that mix of retail.

Brooke Massey 0:16:26

It will. And so part of that is, you know, we have some plans in place that would kind of relocate some of the larger tenants on our boulevard here for positive impact. And multifamily will kind of run along Peachtree Parkway and wrap kind of down towards the current barns. It’s 381 units that we’ve been approved is, you know, for. I’m not sure what we’ll actually end up with, but we don’t have a start date yet. It will be. Right now it’s looking more of like a 2025 start, but they’re underway, withdrawings and all of the stuff that the team works on.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:06

Right, right. And I think the other side of that was a boutique hotel. That probably would be about the same time it would be. Yes.

Brooke Massey 0:17:12

So we’ve been approved for zoning of a hotel across the pad, and we would be looking to start that at the same time. Right. You don’t want construction being drug on for, you know, endless amount of time. So we would like to try to condense that and do the hotel and the multifamily at the same time.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:29

So you’re enjoying the things you do. Do you see yourself moving out here at some point? Are you good in town?

Brooke Massey 0:17:35

You know, my husband and I have had these conversations even when we came out here for the bunny hop. There’s lots of things I love about living in town, but I do love the feel of Peachtree Corners specifically. So, yeah, who knows? It would be fun to be able to have this in my backyard. We’ll see.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:53

All right, well, we’ve been talking to Brooke Massey, leasing director, or director of leasing. I appreciate you working through, we had technical difficulties at one point, but I appreciate you working through that. Yeah, no, I appreciate you doing this. I mean, we get to know a lot of what’s going on, so we.

Brooke Massey 0:18:10

Have a lot going on.

Rico Figliolini 0:18:11

Yeah. We’re going to try this again at another point to talk further down the line of new stores coming in. But check the website out, living in peacetrickworners.com dot. Also go to the forums website, which.

Brooke Massey 0:18:23

Is the, I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t know my address.

Rico Figliolini 0:18:28

The forumatpeachtreecorners.com there you go. So google it and you’ll be fine, too. But thank you all for being with us. Thank you, Brooke.

Brooke Massey 0:18:36

Thank you.