News Center

Construction Under Way for Whole Foods

2/14/2010

The Media Play store and other buildings in Merchant’s Walk are being torn down to make room for a Whole Foods Market which is expected to open in July 2011.

Merchant's Walk, at Johnson Ferry and Roswell roads in east Cobb, is a well-established shopping center, with rows of large existing stores that will remain, as well as a 12-screen movie theater. However, many of those buildings will undergo facade renovations and there will be landscape improvements, said Tracy Jones, vice president of marketing with developer Edens & Avant.

According to the developer's Facebook page, "The redevelopment will showcase new architectural design, significant landscaping improvements, al fresco dining and pedestrian connectivity. Construction activities began in August."

The Whole Foods will be located where the Media Play store used to sit and additional new retail buildings will substitute the old 8,000-square-foot Merchant's Walk Library, which the county sold to Columbia, S.C.-based Edens & Avant for $1.6 million in spring 2009. The library officially closed its doors Jan. 22, and the county opened a new, 16,800-square-foot library in the nearby Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, at Johnson Ferry and Lower Roswell roads, on Feb. 1.

Edens & Avant agreed to lease the old library to the county while it built the new East Cobb Library.

When voting to approve the sale of Merchant's Walk Library to Edens & Avant in March, Cobb Chairman Sam Olens said, "I think this will be a great opportunity for the county. ... The owners of Merchant's Walk want to redevelop, and the money offered by the developer will assist the county in offering the size library needed."

Jones said Edens & Avant has invested about $27 million in the redevelopment of the 335,000-square-foot Merchant's Walk shopping center, which does not include the existing retailers' investments in their spaces.

The existing stores, such as Kohl's, PetSmart, Stein Mart, Old Navy and OfficeMax, will remain open during renovations and construction, Jones said.