An Atlanta developer known for molding the city’s skyline is venturing into the metro’s suburbs for its latest project.
Portman Holdings is pursuing plans to turn nearly 112 acres of forested land in Duluth into a mixed-use community that includes up to 1,400 residential units alongside medical offices and commercial spaces, according to a state filing. Located about 27 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, the early-stage proposal is positioned to become one of the developer’s largest outside Atlanta’s city limits.
Portman declined to comment on the project, which was made public Wednesday after a rezoning request triggered a Development of Regional Impact review, an infrastructure study required for most large projects. The Atlanta Business Chronicle was the first outlet to cover the filing.
The wooded site is at the corner of Pleasant Hill Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard within Gwinnett County’s second-largest city. The residential units are slated to include apartments, townhomes and single-family houses, and the site plan also includes up to 80,000 square feet of commercial spaces and 100,000 square feet of medical office space.
The land currently only has three structures — a four-bedroom house built in 1895 and two other buildings erected in the early 1900s, according to Gwinnett records. Portman told the Chronicle that the historic house would be preserved as part of its development plan. Neither a site map nor renderings were made available.
The land is owned by an affiliate of The Hudgens Co., a development firm founded by late developer Scott Hudgens, who is best known for building many of Georgia’s malls ranging from the Mall of Georgia to Gwinnett Place Mall. His family foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Portman, which was founded by the late renowned developer John C. Portman Jr., has been busy with projects throughout Atlanta and its surrounding areas.
Historically, the company’s largest pursuits were in the city center, including the Peachtree Center complex, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta and the city’s second-tallest building, Truist Plaza. The company recently reacquired the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel, the city’s tallest hotel that was also built by Portman in the 1970s.
Credit: Courtesy of Portman Holdings
Credit: Courtesy of Portman Holdings
In recent years, Portman’s companies built Georgia Tech’s Coda and Spring Quarter in Midtown, the city’s newest office tower, while also pursuing a redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk.
But the company is also expanding into areas outside of Atlanta proper. Its pursuits include a mixed-use redevelopment of an Alpharetta office campus and a 332-unit apartment complex in Fairburn. The Duluth project is the latest to join that pipeline, with the DRI disclosing construction could finish by 2031.
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