DORAVILLE, Ga. — The new year brings a renewed push to build a multi-use development at the former site of a K-Mart in Doraville.
That store shut down in 2010 and the building was razed a few years ago, leaving a 13-acre patch of dirt off Buford Highway near I-285.
But this week the developer, Insignia LLC, filed documents with the state to move forward with the project.
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Its name is Lotus Grove, and it would include 780 apartments, a 168-room hotel, restaurants, shops and offices.
Buford Highway has a multicultural richness about it; immigrant communities have long taken root along the corridor.
Sunny Park emigrated here from South Korea in 1978 and remembers shopping at the K-Mart.
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The store closed in 2010 and the building was torn down a few years ago, leaving an empty space.
“It’s been an eyesore for several years,” Park said. “It needs to be revitalized, in my opinion. “It’s been sitting there for too long.”
He said Lotus Grove would lend a cosmopolitan vibe to the diverse area.
“I’d like to see the retail plus the residential,” he said. “And that’s a very, very good location for anything, and I also would like to see a community center.”
The project’s plans call for a civic center.
One of the apartment buildings would stand 12 stories tall, making it the tallest building in Doraville.
Alex Yox moved to the area with his young family a couple of years ago.
“I think that a park or some kind of green space would be great,” he said. “We’ve got a few small parks around here, but nothing big.”
Lotus Grove would include a public park. The developer says construction could begin by late summer and be completed by 2028.
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