ATLANTA—Matt Simon, the retail operator who is credited with elevating the profile of The Grove in Los Angeles, is the newly-minted vice president and senior general manager of Avalon. Avalon is North American Properties' (NAP) mixed-use development in Alpharetta, GA.

In part one of this exclusive interview series, Simon discussed how he got started in the commercial real estate industry and how he will apply his experience at The Grove to his new position at Avalon. In part two, he explains how operating Avalon will be different than operating The Grove.

Simon immediately points out a major difference between the two properties. Avalon, he tells GlobeSt.com, is unique to The Grove in that Avalon has onsite class A office space, multimillion dollar residential homes built by Monte Hewett Homes, luxury apartments, a mix of retail and chef-driven restaurant concepts, a Whole Foods Market, and two workout facilities.