The long-vacant Walmart at Perimeter Village may finally have a second act. Kroger is looking to turn the big-box shell into a full Kroger Marketplace, complete with extra services, in the shopping center near Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. The proposal has already cleared its first planning hurdle this month, and if it wins final approval, the project would bring a major grocer back to a central Perimeter retail strip that has been without Walmart since 2024.
What’s planned
Kroger has filed an application with the city asking for zoning tweaks and a special land use permit so it can retrofit the former Walmart space, according to the Dunwoody City Manager’s monthly report. City documents spell out key upgrades tied to the Marketplace concept, including a gas station and a pharmacy drive-through. Those additions are bundled into the proposed build-out and will need zoning changes in place before any construction crews can roll in.
Where it would sit
Perimeter Village, owned by Kimco, sits on Ashford Dunwoody Road, and the former Walmart box is still listed on the landlord’s property page, per Kimco Realty's listing. Local coverage reports that Kroger is eyeing roughly 116,824 square feet of the old supercenter, a figure first noted by Rough Draft Atlanta. The size of the center and its sprawling parking field are part of what makes the site so appealing for a large-format grocer, according to planners.
Approval path
The Dunwoody Planning Commission has already weighed in and recommended approval of the zoning requests at its May 12 meeting. The package now goes to the City Council for a final decision, as reported by Business Journals. If council members sign off, the next steps will be site plan work and building permits before any visible transformation starts. City staff, Kimco and Kroger’s team are expected to coordinate how the rest of the center adapts around the new tenant.
Why it matters
The Walmart shutdown in 2024 left a gaping, underused building in a dense trade area and took a big grocery option out of circulation for nearby residents, according to earlier reporting by Rough Draft Atlanta. Kroger’s Marketplace plan lands as the company reshapes its metro Atlanta footprint, including a reported $23 million expansion of a store in East Cobb that signals the chain is both trimming and reinvesting in the region, per Atlanta News First. If this deal goes through, shoppers in the Perimeter corridor would see another major grocer in the mix, along with likely shifts in traffic patterns and parking demand around the center.
What to watch
The next key moment is the City Council vote. A date for that final hearing has not yet been posted, and Kroger has not shared any public timeline for an opening. The Perimeter Village property page still shows available space at the center, which is a sign that leasing and layout details are not fully nailed down, according to Kimco Realty. We will update this story once the council takes action and permit filings start moving.
