Avenue East Cobb management submits plans for revamp of shopping center
Jun. 16—New details have emerged about North American Properties' plans to revamp the 23-year-old Avenue East Cobb shopping center on Roswell Road.
The main feature of the plan, submitted ahead of next week's Cobb Board of Commissioners zoning hearing, is the construction of two new store structures on either side of the semicircular development. The "jewel box" structures would sit where two wide pedestrian paths intersect the parking lot.
Renderings further indicate the Bravura bridal shop would be demolished to make way for a new public plaza with a seating area and stage. Beside that — directly across from Michael's — the developer would construct a concierge building with a valet lane.
North American Properties (NAP), which has worked on such projects as Atlanta's Colony Square and Atlantic Station, promised last year it would be redesigning the shopping center to create a "socially magnetic place."
NAP hopes to sign leases that will bring new retail and "chef-driven" restaurants to create "street-level energy" and improve walkability, the company said last summer.
Each of the so-called "jewel box" buildings, so named for their glass exteriors, would be 2,500 square feet, and could include restaurants and/or retail. The concierge building would be 900 square feet.
Prospective tenants for the new structures were not named in the application. NAP said it could not presently disclose what businesses might be moving in.
County staff did not note any objections to the changes in their initial review of the plan. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will consider the site plan changes at their June 21 zoning hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.
