Terry Commercial Eyes Greater Atlanta Retail Development

Terry Commercial Realty intends to develop The Gateway, a 40,000-square-foot restaurant and retail property in the exurban Atlanta town of Jasper, Ga. Plans are still in the early stages, with permitting still ahead.

The property will be part of a master-planned community with about 400 residential units within walking distance of its commercial buildings. All residences are slated for completion before the opening of The Gateway.

Initial renderings focus on a common area and green space that will be flanked by an anchor restaurant on one side and a food hall on the other. Designed to have a town-square vibe, the common area could house a wide variety of events, from morning yoga and cornhole tournaments to live music, Dave Terry, president & founder of TCR, said in prepared remarks.

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Evan Lockwood at Wilson Hutchison Realty, the project’s leasing agent, envisions such tenants as coffee shops, pizzerias, boutique retail and coworking spaces. The locally based TCR itself dates from late 2022, with a focus on development and redevelopment efforts in Pickens County.

The property will be off the main road through the area, Georgia State Route 515, which connects northern Georgia’s mountainous region with the outer suburbs of Atlanta. Jasper, seat of Pickens County, is in the northern reaches of the Atlanta MSA.

Atlanta retail in demand

The greater Atlanta retail market is tight, with a vacancy rate of 3.7 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to a Colliers report. The rate witnessed was up 30 basis points over the year, but still remained below the market’s five-year average by 50 basis points.

Though demand is there, supply continued to grow at a relatively slow pace. The market’s new deliveries totaled 230,000 square feet in Q3, barely above half of the square footage that came online same time last year.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s retail development pipeline reached an all-time low at 800,000 square feet. During the third quarter of 2023, 1.9 million square feet were underway.