New renovations are coming to the Lakeshore Mall in Gainesville. Branch Properties, LLC, a private real estate investment firm, recently purchased the mall in 2022. The firm has big plans to transform the area into a walkable community with living quarters and 180 retailers, dubbing the project “Lakeshore.”
Branch Properties purchased a total of 48.86 acres for their project. The community that the firm has outlined to build will include 652 multi-family apartments, 80 residential townhomes and a 95-room hotel.
Nicolas Telesca, partner and chairman of Branch Properties, spoke to the Gainesville City Council during a re-development meeting held on Feb. 4. “Lakeshore Mall has held a prominent place in the heart of Gainesville, but like many aging malls, it is now functionally absonant, and now it is time to place this asset back into the services and assets for the community,” he said to the council.
“Our proposal is to transform this site into a dynamic lifestyle center that will breathe new life into the property and create an amenity that attracts new businesses, residents and engages the community for the next 50 years.” – Nicholas Telesca, Branch Properties, LLC chairman and partner
Other businesses are included in the project’s planning, including group homes, automobile sale establishments, entertainment centers, crisis centers, mini-warehouses and a prison or detention center.
The project, set to begin in 2026, will develop in three phases. The first phase includes filing a development of regional impact (DRI) that will allow for community feedback and the demolition of the mall. Building the community and reconstructing affected roads will be included in the second and third stages of the project.
The only two stores remaining from the mall after demolition will be Belk and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The latter plans to relocate within the property.
“25 years ago, the mall was much different than it is today. A lot of changes have taken place there,” said Lynn Putrich, a member of the Gainesville community for 25 years.
He described the mall as unique to the Gainesville community, and while he was disappointed to see it go, he understood that the mall was far from its glory days.
Keri Smith, a Gainesville resident who worked at Lakeshore Mall’s former Victoria’s Secret location from 2000-2001, is excited for the redevelopment.
“Our community needs a variety of shopping, entertainment and dining options with the growth that we’ve had,” she said. “This redevelopment will provide that.”
The Lakeshore Mall is currently located off a conjunction of Dawsonville Highway, Pearl Nix Highway and Shallowford Road. Because of the busy roads, a traffic analysis study concluded that an average growth of 2% in traffic each year is expected for the seven-year duration of the development until 2030. Roads most affected include Dawsonville Highway and Browns Bridge Road, but Branch Properties analysts are currently working on solutions to lower predicted increases of traffic.
Branch Properties sees this project as an opportunity for the Gainesville community to move on from the mall and grow.
