Nearly a decade after Chamblee and its Downtown Development Authority first began plotting a new downtown core, the 7.2-acre Chamblee City Center redevelopment is edging toward a groundbreaking, with financial closing expected around mid-to-late October. The project, planned for the stretch bounded by Peachtree Road, Ingersoll Rand Drive, Irvindale Drive, and Broad Street, would bring 340 multifamily units, 29,000 square feet of retail space, and nearly 3 acres of open space directly across from City Hall.
The redevelopment concept has been in the works since 2018, when the city and its Downtown Development Authority launched the public-private partnership, according to Urbanize Atlanta. The city selected Greystar and Vantage Realty Partners as developers in 2024, and the project won city approval for its site plans in late 2025, per the same outlet. Greystar already had a foothold in Chamblee before landing the City Center project: the company acquired land near Interstate 285 in January 2025 to build Marlowe Chamblee, a 300-unit apartment community under its suburban luxury brand, according to WhatNow Atlanta, which notes Greystar manages more than 35,000 rental units across metro Atlanta.
Five Buildings, a Parking Garage, and a Central Lawn
Plans call for five standalone commercial buildings alongside pocket parks and a centralized events lawn, the report states. A 192,000-square-foot parking garage would provide 673 total spaces, with 176 of those reserved for the retail and restaurant portions of the project, per Greystar as cited in the same Urbanize Atlanta report. Design partners on the project include Dwell Design Studio, Core Landscape, Lightweight Studio, and Kimley-Horn engineers, according to the outlet.
Commercial listings from Vantage Realty Partners, meanwhile, target a Fall 2027 delivery date for the 27,000 square feet of freestanding commercial space, which is expected to feature patio and rooftop spaces fronting a 1.5-acre central public lawn, according to a LoopNet listing that highlights potential brewpub, fitness, and dining uses. That timeline covers only the commercial portion, since the Urbanize Atlanta report notes there is currently no available outlook for delivery of the development's initial phases overall.
Permits, Closing, and a Groundbreaking Timeline
The development team is currently working with DeKalb County authorities to secure a land disturbance permit, the outlet reports. Once financial closing occurs around mid-to-late October, the Downtown Development Authority and developer expect to break ground soon after, according to Shannon Wiggins, as quoted in the same Urbanize Atlanta report.
Resident Pushes Back on Tree Removal
Not every neighbor is fully on board with the current site plan. A nearby resident quoted by Urbanize Atlanta praised the proposed retro-style retail design but raised concerns that the project would clear a large grove of mature hardwood trees. That resident suggested the trees could be spared by placing some retail space underneath the apartment buildings rather than constructing single-story retail structures on the site.
The City Center site sits directly across from Chamblee City Hall, which opened in October 2022 after the city issued $17 million in revenue bonds through its Urban Redevelopment Agency to fund the 27,000-square-foot building, according to AJC.com. The building, constructed on the former police department site, later won the AIA Georgia 2023 People's Choice Award for best built project over 5,000 square feet, recognizing design work by Goodwyn Mills Cawood that incorporates industrial accents honoring the city's early 20th-century rail heritage, as reported by Urbanize Atlanta.
A Downtown Built Around Transit and Growing Fast
The City Center site also sits near Chamblee's MARTA station, continuing a public-private redevelopment pattern that dates back to 2017, when MARTA and private partners broke ground on Trackside, a $25 million transit-oriented development directly across from the station featuring 80,000 square feet of office space and 13,000 square feet of retail, according to SaportaReport. The push toward denser, walkable development is also reshaping Chamblee's downtown.
Chamblee has also repurposed older municipal buildings as its downtown evolves. The city's former 6,796-square-foot City Hall at 5468 Peachtree Road reopened in June 2026 as Spruill Studios, offering 15 below-market artist working spaces through a public-nonprofit partnership, according to Heather Cummings. Meanwhile, patrons visiting the new City Center's future restaurants and green spaces will fall under rules established in March 2023, when the Chamblee City Council created a Downtown Entertainment District permitting outdoor alcohol consumption from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. between Ingersoll Rand Drive and McGaw Drive, using clear 12-ounce or 16-ounce cups bearing city stickers, per the City of Chamblee.
The City Center project isn't the only major redevelopment reshaping Chamblee's core. Hoodline previously reported that developer Alliance Residential proposed converting office space at Century Center into hundreds of rental units, part of a broader metro Atlanta trend of replacing underused office buildings with high-density housing.
