Mold Remediation in John Creek, GA

A joint venture between Toro Development Co. and Ascentris has secured financing for the first phase of Medley, a $560 million, 960,000-square-foot mixed-use development near Atlanta. Funding included an equity investment from Ascentris and a $158 million construction note issued by Banco Inbursa.

Upon completion in late 2026, Medley will include 750 multifamily units, 150,000 square feet of retail space, 110,000 square feet of office space, a 175-key hotel, 133 for-sale townhomes, as well as a 25,000-square-foot plaza.

In March, the developer acquired a suburban office park for $44 million and during the pre-development phases, Toro razed the 350,000-square-foot office building. Nelson Worldwide provided design services for the mixed-use project, while Kimley-Horn served as engineer and Site Solutions planned the landscaping. Construction is expected to commence in December.

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According to a City of Johns Creek council meeting, the first phase will deliver much of the commercial space, as well as the townhomes and 375 multifamily units. The second phase is slated to bring online another 375 units and the remainder of the commercial space.

To grant the needed rezoning, the council imposed certain conditions. Among them was the limitation of multifamily floorplans to studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans in structures no greater than four stories high.

Located on 43 acres at the intersection of McGinnis Ferry Road and Johns Creek Parkway in Johns Creek, Ga., the mixed-use development neighbors an underway life science facility by Boston Scientific and is within walking distance of a 300,000-square-foot retail center. Downtown Atlanta is roughly 32 miles southwest.

Since its inception in 2006, the City of Johns Creek has gathered a population of more than 84,000 residents as of 2022. Considering its growth, a master-planned, 192-acre development emerged. Medley is part of that master proposal—dubbed Town Center Vision and Plan—which seeks to blend housing and commercial space through new public pathways and parks.

Mixed-use projects attracting investment

The strong fundamentals of mixed-use real estate remain attractive to investors, despite a frigid market, Mark Toro, founder and chief vision officer of Toro Development Co., said in prepared remarks.

Before founding the company in 2021, Toro was a chairman of North American Properties where he played a pivotal role in the repositioning efforts of the 1.3 million-square-foot Atlantic Station and the ground-up development of the $1 billion, 2.3 million-square-foot mixed-use Avalon community which features 526 multifamily units.

Atlanta’s advertised rates slump as supply hits the market

On a trailing 12-month basis through September, developers brought online more than 25,400 units throughout Greater Atlanta, accounting for 4.0 percent of stock, according to Yardi Matrix data. Given the supply glut, the advertised asking rental rates cooled by 2.0 percent year-over-year as of September.

A-Town’s supply pipeline still held upward of 35,200 units underway as of November, the same source shows. One project underway is Oak Grove Vista, also a mixed-use development in McDonough, Ga. A joint venture between Atlantic American Partners, Township Capital and Vista Residential Partners broke ground on the 348-unit project last year. Preleasing is expected to start next month.

Just like a musical medley needs multiple interweaving songs to exist, large development projects that feature a mix of property types need robust financial backing to become a reality.

The Medley mixed-use development in Johns Creek announced Wednesday it obtained its financing, paving the way for the project’s groundbreaking next month. The $560 million town center project aims to redefine suburban Johns Creek’s city center with a new hotel, office space, hundreds of housing units and a variety of shops and restaurants.

Mark Toro, the head of Medley’s developer Toro Development Co., said it was an uphill battle to obtain construction financing given how interest rates and commercial real estate have been impacted in recent years. The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to tame inflation, but that’s also cooled lending. The upending of the office market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and lingering since, has also chilled development.

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But he said there’s still money out there for high-quality projects in the right places.

“It was a heavy lift, but the fundamentals of experiential mixed-use real estate remain attractive to the right investors, even in today’s frigid market,” Toro said in a news release.

Credit: Courtesy of Toro Development Group

Toro started his namesake development firm after working on the North American Properties team that built Avalon in Alpharetta, and Medley aims to bring a similar energy to neighboring Johns Creek. His firm in March paid $44 million to acquire a 43-acre former State Farm office campus along Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road.

Since acquiring the property, the developer razed an existing office building to prepare the site for construction, which is expected to begin in December. The other existing office building will be renovated and incorporated into the new district.

The rest of the project will include a 175-room boutique hotel, 110,000 square feet of office space, 750 apartments, 133 townhomes, a 25,000-square-foot plaza and about 150,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.

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“Our plan will completely transform a struggling, commodity office park into a walkable, urban oasis for Johns Creek,” Toro said. “This is the kind of project the investment community is excited to hear about.”

The project is being financed by a mix of equity and debt, including an undisclosed equity investment from Denver-based real estate private equity firm Ascentris and a $158 million construction loan from Mexico City-based Banco Inbursa. The project is also supported by a $13.4 million tax break from the Development Authority of Fulton County, which was approved in 2023.

Medley’s first phase is expected to open by the third quarter of 2026.