A date many in the vicinity of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center have been anticipating for years will soon come to pass.
On April 11, the first phase of the demolition of the blighted retail center begins, starting with the former Bruno’s grocery store.
What has been a community eyesore for more than two decades will be giving way to a mixed use development of senior apartments, townhomes and some retail and restaurant space.
Atlantic Realty Acquisitions LLC got rezoning last June from Cobb commissioners to redevelop Sprayberry Crossing, and existing businesses began relocating at the start of 2022.
The parcels making up the assemblage were sold in December to East Cobb Venture Partners, LLC, a holding company formed last October, for nearly $13 million.
“It’s been a long struggle, but the end is here,” said Joe Glancy, a co-founder of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group that’s pushed for the property’s redevelopment.
He said the area will be fenced off by the end of March, with openings for independent businesses fronting Sandy Plains Road.
But you won’t be able to cut through the backside of the property between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road.
Glancy said asbestos removal also is continuing through March, and a pest control company has installed around 200 rodent traps for the demolition process.
There also could be some Cobb fire and police training at the old structures.
Construction is expected to begin in August and should take around 18 months, Glancy said, and family members of the Mayes Family Cemetery will have access.
He said he doesn’t know yet whether the public will be invited to watch the demolition begin, “but I know many of us can’t wait and would like to be on site to witness it. I’d bring my own sledgehammer if they’d let me.”
He also posted the fencing map outlined below in red.
Once developed, the new Sprayberry Crossing will have 132 senior apartments and 102 townhomes and retail and restaurant space. The cemetery also will remain intact.
But plans for an anchor 34,000-square-foot Lidl grocery store were scuttled when the developer couldn’t come to a traffic agreement with the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, located across from the intersection of Sandy Plains Road and Kinjac Drive.
That’s where Cobb DOT recommended the main entrance to the new development, since there’s a traffic signal there now.
Related stories
- Cobb commissioners approve Sprayberry Crossing rezoning
- Residents divided as Sprayberry Crossing rezoning looms
- Cobb Planning Commission punts on Sprayberry Crossing
- More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting
- Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
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Well the developers finally found the commissioners payoff number. If 2020 didn’t teach us amything else, it taught us that politicians are all about themseleves and lining their own pockets. The stadium that was shoved down our thoughts is a great case and point.
Im sure none of these commissioners live anywhere near this high density crap that they keep approving. And dont be fooled by the senior apartments, I bet half of them will be section 8 if not more.
Happy to see progress been made. No standard apartments please accept seniors. No grocery store or the like. Love the community let’s keep it community friendly. Good work all. I live only minutes away looking forward to enjoying this.
I don’t have a problem with the bottle shop. They were never offered enough to give up their entrance and parking. The shady developers and their legal team was the problem. What happened to the park and neighborhood gathering space? The food store was used to snooker the naive neighbors to get them to believe it was going to be mixed use. This is the same technique we see these new cities are using to make the uninformed they are going to get something for nothing and live happily ever after. You would think people of East Cobb would be smarter then to buy into developers propaganda.
Sprayberry Bottle Shop is a place I won’t be shopping at anymore.
There are two Sherlock’s in the community, so I’ll gladly take my business there.
Funny, because the guys in Sprayberry Bottle Shop provided lots of info about the failed plan to build a Lowe’s on this site about a decade ago. They told me that the owner of Glamour Salon was being stubborn about an easement to allow traffic flow, or something like that. And now they are the ones causing trouble and putting their own greed in front of what is best for the community.
This area WAS zoned as “Neighborhood Shopping”. That means restaurants, private parks, farmers’ markets, local retail, etc. But now, because of JoAnn Birrell and “community representatives” that opportunity is gone and all we get is high-density housing and no fixes for the traffic problems.
Remember this at the polls on May 24th. If you want more high-density housing and traffic, vote for Birrell. If you want someone that will defend our community, vote for Judy Sarden.
If you’re in District 1, vote for Gambrill. She’s the only commissioner that voted to protect the community from this mess.
No grocery store which was a major setting point? And a big shoutout to those opposed who kept the apartments seniors only. Let’s not forget some folks like Clancy were also willing to allow hundreds of standard apartments on that site until they faced stiff opposition.