Terminal South just scored a big neighborhood anchor, with The Nest Nursery School set to relocate from Grant Park into Building Two at the Peoplestown complex. Landlord Stafford Properties says a small restaurant is also on the way, and the school plans to open at the converted warehouse site in early 2027. As part of the move, The Nest will turn an outdoor container area now used by Jase’s Lemonade into a playground, a shift that could bring more daytime family foot traffic to Terminal South’s food and retail rows along the Southside Trail.
Stafford Properties announced that The Nest will take 4,314 square feet in suite 120C of Building Two, and the developer is finalizing a roughly 1,650-square-foot restaurant lease, according to Stafford Properties. The outdoor area currently occupied by Jase’s Lemonade is slated to become the school’s dedicated play space. The Nest’s move makes it the first signed tenant in Building Two and is timed for an early 2027 opening window.
The Nest started in 2011 as a small home-style program and moved into a renovated warehouse in Grant Park in August 2017, where it could serve about 68 children across four classrooms. The nonprofit’s curriculum is influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach and emphasizes low teacher-to-child ratios and plenty of outdoor time. More on the school’s history and classroom structure is available on The Nest's website.
Terminal South’s layout and next steps
Terminal South is an adaptive-reuse project that is converting two former warehouses into about 45,625 square feet of mixed-use space, anchored by Switchman Hall, a food-hall collective envisioned with roughly 18 stalls, plus flexible retail and patio areas, according to developer materials from Stafford Properties. Building One is marketed at about 15,450 square feet of interior space, while Building Two offers about 10,940 square feet of retail and flex space. Project officials also note that the Atlanta BeltLine is planning a switchback entry and exit across the street in 2027, which should make the Southside Trail connection to Terminal South smoother, as reported by Urbanize Atlanta.
What to watch
Details about the restaurant operator and the final build-out schedule have not been released. If The Nest’s opening and the BeltLine switchback arrive on time, Terminal South could evolve from a mostly weekend stop into more of a daily neighborhood hub, with parents dropping off kids, grabbing coffee, and sticking around for family nights. Leasing activity over the coming months will show whether other non-food tenants decide to follow the school’s lead.
