In Doraville, Ga., the long-awaited Lotus Grove mixed-use project is set to revitalize the area with retail, residential, and a hotel. With Insignia LLC leading the development, construction is expected to start in 2025 and complete by 2028, bringing much-needed urbanization to Buford Highway.
Rendering courtesy of Insignia LLC
Once completed, Lotus Grove will feature close to 1 million sq. ft. of new development, with the retail comprised of a collection of restaurants, multifamily units, the tallest buildings in city of Doraville, as well as a national hotel.
Back in November, developers behind a long-planned shopping, dining and residential district at a large and vacant site along Georgia Highway 13/Buford Highway in the northern suburbs of Atlanta vowed to finally get the wheels of development moving in the new year.
Less than a week into 2025, all signs appear to be pointing in a positive direction for nearby residents who have grown tired of the "eyesore" property in Doraville, Urbanize Atlanta reported.
Insignia LLC, an Atlanta-based real estate investment firm, filed plans with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs on Dec. 30 to have its Lotus Grove project assessed at the state level as a potential Development of Regional Impact (DRI), given its large scope.
The state agency concluded Jan 6 that the Doraville project does indeed warrant a review by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
The DRI classification, which applies to projects large enough to affect multiple jurisdictions, is meant to streamline the development process and help gather local input.
Insignia's project description for Lotus Grove predicts it will bring urbanization to Buford Highway and help revitalize the popular foodie destination.
But it has been a long time coming.
Situated just outside the Interstate 285 loop, a Kmart Big K operated for years on the 13-acre property at 5597 Buford Highway until it shuttered in 2010. The shopping center's remains were fully cleared more than two years ago.
That appeared to set the stage for Lotus Grove, and the continuation of development trends in nearby cities such as Chamblee and Dunwoody that are leaning into urban-style, mixed-use nodes.
Eti Lazarian, Insignia's general operations director, told Urbanize Atlanta in November that initial Lotus Grove phases were on pace to see vertical construction this summer, with an expected total cost north of $300 million.
Alongside low-rise retail and restaurants, as well as a food hall, Lotus Grove's first phase calls for a 12-story building — the tallest in Doraville, according to project officials — that would include 456 apartments and amenities such as a pool and fitness center.
Elsewhere, Lazarian noted that construction schedules call for delivering Lotus Grove's retail and residential components by sometime in 2027.
According to the DRI submission, the full project would see 780 multifamily units, a 160-room hotel and just shy of 67,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant development.
The schedule calls for completing the development in 2028, per the filing.
Infrastructure Work Has Already Gotten Under Way
Miami-based developer Resia, the company behind a five-building residential project on Memorial Drive in Doraville, as well as another in nearby Douglasville, is gearing up to build the first phase of residential part of the project, called Resia Lotus Grove, Urbanize Atlanta learned.
Infrastructure work on the residential tower has already begun, and Resia officials said recently that full development is on pace to start later this year.
According to information on the Insignia website, Lotus Grove will eventually see two 12-story residential towers as part of roughly 1 million sq. ft. of new construction. Other facets of the project would include a public park designed to be activated for events.
Three years ago, Doraville's Downtown Development Authority issued roughly $120 million worth of revenue bonds for the building effort that Insignia will have to pay back, plus a tax abatement in the ballpark of $40 million.
The Lotus Grove site is less than a mile from the initial phase of Doraville's Assembly Atlanta TV and film studio and greenspace complex, which has risen from the ashes of a demolished General Motors plant.
Elsewhere in the city, plans are percolating for a made-from-scratch downtown district that would help enhance Doraville's identity, while an infill residential project called Camino is under construction on a previously vacant lot, according to Urbanize Atlanta.
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