The Sheraton Atlanta Downtown, located at 165 Courtland Street, will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation this fall. The renovation will provide the hotel with 43 new suites for a total of 63 suites (826 total rooms) – "the largest suite to guest room ratio in the city." What today operates as the Sheraton originally opened in 1965 as Marriott Hotel as seen in the artist's rendering, available thanks to the work of Greg Germani of Atlanta Time Machine. Sheraton's renovation follows those of competing downtown hotels such as the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. The Hyatt's renovations last year culminated with the reopening of their iconic Polaris restaurant after about a ten year absence.
The Staples store at Midtown Place shopping center is undergoing renovations. Following the Staples-Office Depot/Max merger this past February, many Staples stores have closed locally including locations in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and Roswell.
A one time Shoney's restaurant on Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Tucker has been demolished for a new McDonald's. The freestanding restaurant had gone through a number of name changes over the past few years, but was vacant most recently. The parcel is adjacent to an existing QuikTrip. As I reported last week, another one time Shoney's in Marietta will soon be demolished for a new Bojangles'.
A new nearly 36,000 square foot Ashley Furniture Home Store is planned for 5980 North Point Parkway in Alpharetta.
A new restaurant called "Herban Fix Vegan Kitchen" plans to open later this summer at The Reynolds, a condo building at 565 Peachtree Street. The 6,302 square-foot space was previously home to Dogwood Restaurant until its closure in 2011. The restaurant's location at Linden Avenue and Peachtree Street places it just south of midtown and just north of downtown, something that hurt the Peasant's business as well. Hopefully given their niche they can attract enough people to make the restaurant successful, but it will definitely be an uphill battle.
The Breadgarden on Amsterdam Avenue in midtown is closing with their last day currently scheduled for Saturday.
Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. is planning a large expansion and renovation of its Kroger store on Hartley Bridge Road in Macon. Kroger plans to add about 45,000 square feet, which includes converting existing vacant retail space and a approximately 10,000-square-foot addition. The existing 56,529 square foot store, built in 1995, would swell to over 100,000 square feet. The renovation and expansion in Macon is similar to improvements currently underway in Decatur where Kroger is enlarging their store at North Decatur Square.
South City Kitchen on Crescent Avenue in midtown reopened yesterday after being closed last week for a light remodel.
Asheville, North Carolina-based Earth Fare opened their new 24,000 square foot store today at phase two of Emory Point on Clifton Road. The Emory Point store is the chain's fourth in Georgia, joining locations in Athens, Augusta and Peachtree Corners.
Greensboro, North Carolina-based The Fresh Market also opened their new 24,400 square foot store today at Brighten Park (fka Loehmann's Plaza) on Briarcliff Road near North Druid Hills Road. The Brighten Park store is the chain's thirteenth in Georgia with a fourteenth planned for Roswell.