Wal-Mart Plans First 150,000-SF Store in Midtown

ATLANTA-Hesitant in the past to open stores in urban areas, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to provide Midtown shoppers with a 150,000-sf, $11-million store this year at the former Castlegate Hotel site off Interstate 75 and Howell Mill Road, area retail brokers familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com. Wal-Mart is expected to sign an estimated 10-year lease shortly.

However, brokers were uncertain if Wal-Mart would offer groceries at the Midtown site, as it does at its larger 220,000-sf Superstores. For Wal-Mart, opening at the Selig Enterprises property would be “a no-brainer,” area brokers tell GlobeSt.com, since Selig’s 17-acre project will have 280 rental apartment units–a ready-made customer base.

Retail brokers familiar with the submarkets also tell GlobeSt.com the Bentonville, AR-based retailer may also open a 100,000-sf store in the vacant Avondale Mall in neighboring DeKalb County. Costco, Home Depot and Sam’s Club had previously considered leasing space at the Selig project, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Sam’s Club is a Wal-Mart division.