For nearly a decade, the old Kohl's building at 2342 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell sat empty, at one point reduced to an unofficial parking lot for tractor-trailers. Now the 86,000-square-foot shell has been reimagined into a $28 million church and community events campus, and Eagles Nest Church plans to celebrate its grand opening with services next Sunday.
The transformation caps years of searching for a permanent home for a congregation that has outgrown hotel ballrooms, office parks, and even a go-kart track. As reported by Atlanta Daily World, Eagles Nest Church began in 2012 with a small group gathering in a DoubleTree hotel ballroom and has since worshipped in a business office park, at Andretti Karting and Games, and in Centennial High School's auditorium and gymnasium before landing at the former retail site. The Kohl's location had closed permanently on June 19, 2016, part of a nationwide decision by the retailer to shutter 18 underperforming stores, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
From Empty Big-Box to 1,000-Seat Auditorium
The redevelopment reimagined roughly 80,000 square feet of former retail space, according to Atlanta Daily World, and now includes an auditorium seating more than 1,000 people, along with dedicated spaces for children and students. The facility is designed to accommodate weddings, graduations, conferences, meetings, concerts, corporate trainings, and community gatherings, and starting this September, Eagles Nest Church will begin offering flexible multi-use spaces for event rentals, serving the church and broader community seven days a week.
Eagles Nest Church acquired the 15-acre Centennial Village shopping center that includes the former Kohl's for $13 million on December 30, 2022, purchasing it from New York-based Rothenberg-Rosenfield through its entity ENA Group LLC, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That acquisition laid the groundwork for the eventual $28 million total redevelopment, which the AJC notes reflects the church's roughly $28 million total investment in the project. The site marks the first phase of a broader vision for an approximately 16-acre campus, per Atlanta Daily World.
A Pastor With a Wall Street and NFL Past
Founder and Senior Pastor Lee Jenkins has lived in Roswell for almost 25 years and previously ran as a candidate for Mayor of Roswell in 2017, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's local reporting. Before entering ministry, Jenkins played college football at the University of Tennessee, was drafted into the NFL by the New York Giants, and managed Grammy Award-winning gospel artists Kirk Franklin and The Winans, according to his own biography published by Lee Jenkins Stewardship.
Jenkins spent 25 years as a Wall Street wealth manager and investment vice president, working at Morgan Stanley and Raymond James, according to Atlanta Daily World. He later combined that financial background with ministry by authoring the personal finance book “Lee Jenkins on Money: Real Solutions to Financial Challenges,” published by Moody Publishers in 2009. Speaking about the new campus, Jenkins said the project gives an empty building new life and purpose, and that Eagles Nest gives the church a greater platform to serve people and strengthen families, according to Atlanta Daily World.
Grand Opening Dubbed “The Crossover”
Eagles Nest Church's grand opening, called The Crossover, will take place next Sunday, September 6, at 2342 Holcomb Bridge Road, with a 9:30 a.m. service and an 11:30 a.m. service. Atlanta Daily World describes the event as an all-white celebration marking a milestone in the ministry, timed to the church's entry into the first phase of its campus vision. Organizers say the finished facility will provide a year-round gathering destination for Roswell, North Fulton, and the surrounding region.
The project builds on a partnership between Eagles Nest Church and Atlanta developer Regent Partners, which helped plan the broader multi-use campus branded as The Beacon at East Roswell, according to Appen Media. Future campus phases are expected to create opportunities for Class A retail, dining, and family-oriented uses, and will include a daycare partner, per Atlanta Daily World.
Filling a Long-Vacant Corridor
The Kohl's closure in 2016 was part of a broader commercial downturn along East Roswell's Holcomb Bridge Road corridor, which also saw the loss of a Super Target in 2017 and prompted local officials to seek what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described as “destination-type” redevelopments. The redeveloped site sits directly adjacent to Centennial High School, which serves more than 1,900 students and 140 faculty members, according to a Colliers International property document, underscoring the campus's placement within a heavily used stretch of East Roswell.
The project also stands out against a broader regional pattern. Metro Atlanta has seen several intown church properties sold off to private developers for residential redevelopment in recent years, but Eagles Nest Church's move to adaptively reuse a vacant big-box store marks a reversal of that trend, according to Urbanize Atlanta. The congregation, which grew from a 20-person gathering at its founding in 2012 to roughly 3,000 members by 2023, now numbers nearly 4,000 as it prepares to move into its first permanent home.
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