Billions in Mixed-Use Projects Advance, GGP Returns, MCB Buys Epic and More

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Billions in Mixed-Use Projects Move Ahead Across 8 States
Brookfield Revives GGP Brand
MCB Acquires Epic Real Estate Partners and Its $575M Grocery-Anchored Portfolio
$947M Deal To Sell 119 JCPenney Stores Falls Through
Selig Enterprises Names Co-CEOs as Steve Selig Steps Back

Billions in Mixed-Use Projects Move Ahead Across 8 States

• A developer bought a 10-acre site for a $3.7 billion mixed-use hub in downtown Atlanta.
• The Simon family broke ground on a $400 million mixed-use entertainment district in Indianapolis.
• Two NFL teams — the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills — are driving new mixed-use stadium districts.
• A commercial real estate firm is planning a mixed-use district near Orlando, Florida.
• Construction started on a $750 million mixed-use development in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro.
• A developer unveiled a $300 million expansion at a mixed-use project in Huntsville, Alabama.
• A 19 million-square-foot master-planned community near Provo, Utah, welcomed the town’s first grocery store.

$3.7B Mixed-Use Vision Takes Shape on 10 Acres in Downtown Atlanta

Plans for a gigantic mixed-use project in Atlanta are coming into focus. Webstar Technology Group and its Forge Atlanta Asset Management real estate subsidiary recently closed on a 10-acre site in downtown Atlanta where the $3.7 billion, 8.4 million-square-foot mixed-use Forge Atlanta development will be built.

At full buildout, the project will feature 120,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; a 20,000-square-foot cultural center; 600,000 square feet of office and flex space; a 200,000-square-foot data center; 2,330 condos across five towers; 950 hotel rooms; and an 80,000-square-foot conference and events center. The $756 million first phase will include 60,500 square feet of retail and entertainment space, a 300-room hotel and roughly 600 condos. The 10-acre site is near a MARTA rail station, Mercedes‑Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena and the 220-block Downtown Atlanta district.

MORE FROM C+CT: Mixed-Use Megaprojects: Turning Locations Into Destinations

Simon Family Breaks Ground on $400M Mixed-Use Entertainment District in Indianapolis

An investment group led by the Simon real estate family has broken ground on a mixed-use development in downtown Indianapolis anchored by a live music venue and the city’s first Ritz-Carlton hotel. New retail space in the entertainment district surrounding Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, will complement the 4,000-capacity music venue and the 15-story, 176-room Ritz-Carlton.

The price tag for the project, being built on the site of a former CSX maintenance facility, is $400 million, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported. Boxcar Development, an investment group headed by Herb Simon and the Simon family, is spearheading the development. Herb Simon retired as chair emeritus of Indianapolis-based landlord Simon in February 2025. David Simon is the REIT’s chair, president and CEO, and Eli Simon is executive vice president and COO.

For its part, Simon, whose U.S. portfolio contained 194 U.S. properties as of Sept. 30, is investing heavily in mixed-use. Eli Simon said on the company’s Nov. 3 earnings call that mixed-use represented about 45% of net development costs at the end of the third quarter. Some of its development and redevelopment projects include residential and hotel components. In November 2024, David Simon said on an earnings call that residential accounted for more than $1 billion of the REIT’s roughly $4 billion development and redevelopment pipeline.

Chiefs’ Move to Kansas Spurs 2 New Mixed-Use Districts Worth $1B

The relocation of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs from the Missouri to the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro will produce not one but two new mixed-use districts. The districts’ combined price tag: $1 billion. Shortly before Christmas, the Chiefs announced the team will leave GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, its home since 1972, to occupy a new $3 billion domed stadium in neighboring Kansas City, Kansas. The Missouri River separates Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas.

As part of the Chiefs’ stadium deal with the state of Kansas, one mixed-use district will be built near the stadium and another will be built near the team’s new $300 million headquarters and practice facility in suburban Olathe, Kansas. Details about the developments are sparse thus far, but both tentatively will include retail, restaurant, sports, entertainment, hotel, office, residential and medical components. The stadium and the headquarters and practice facility are expected to be finished in time for the NFL’s 2031-32 season.

MORE FROM C+CT: Where Fans, Food and Foot Traffic Meet: Stadium Districts’ Retail Appeal

Buffalo Bills Stadium Plan Includes New Mixed-Use District in Orchard Park, New York

Nearly 1,000 miles northeast of Kansas City, a mixed-use stadium district is taking shape in the New York town that hosts the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. On Dec. 17, the town board in Orchard Park, New York, approved the first phase of a mixed-use rezoning district around the Bills’ nearly completed $2.2 billion stadium, Buffalo Business First reported.

The district is slated to include stores, restaurants, sports facilities, offices, hotels and single-family homes. Plans for the 282-acre development are in the early stages, so details like square footage haven’t been worked out yet. The Bills’ 1.35 million-square-foot Highmark Stadium will replace the current 53-year-old stadium, which Buffalo Business First said is scheduled to be demolished in 2027. The new stadium is scheduled to open this year.

Accesso Partners Plans 670K-SF Mixed-Use District Near Orlando

Accesso Partners is developing Ovation, a 670,000-square-foot mixed-use district near Orlando, Florida, according to Commercial Property Executive. The company recently paid $70 million for a 76-acre site 20 miles southwest of downtown Orlando where it expects to break ground in the first quarter. The district will feature experiential stores, restaurants, entertainment and music venues, 740 hotel rooms and a condo project.

$750M Haggard Farm Mixed-Use Project Breaks Ground in Plano, Texas

First-phase construction recently kicked off at the $750 million Haggard Farm mixed-use development in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Plano. The first phase will include 100,000 square feet of retail, 350 apartments and 188 townhomes, the Dallas Business Journal reported. At full buildout, the 145-acre Haggard Farm project, developed by Stillwater Capital, will offer 200,000 square feet of retail, 700 multifamily units, 650,000 square feet of office and a boutique hotel with a private social club.

Huntsville’s MidCity District Expands With $300M Arts + Innovation Subdistrict

The mixed-use format is soaring in Huntsville, Alabama, a major NASA hub. The MidCity Arts + Innovation Subdistrict — a more than $300 million, 12-acre addition to the mixed-use MidCity District — will offer about 60,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, a 3,000-visitor music venue, a 200-room music-themed hotel and a tech innovation campus. RCP Cos. is the developer of MidCity, and the Apollo Coalition is the developer of the tech innovation campus.

Retail tenants at the 140-acre, $2.2 billion MidCity District, situated on the former site of the more than 1 million-square-foot Madison Square Mall, include Dave & Buster’s, Havertys, REI, Starbucks, Topgolf and Trader Joe’s. At full buildout, MidCity will span about 4 million square feet, including 660,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 300,000 square feet of office, 2,000 residential units and 950 hotel rooms, an RCP spokesperson said.

Community’s First Grocery Store Opens in 19M-SF Mixed-Use Project Near Provo, Utah

Small grocery stores sometimes make big splashes. That’s the case in rapidly growing Vineyard, Utah, which recently welcomed its first grocery store. Vineyard, a Provo suburb incorporated in 1989, was home to more than 16,000 people in 2024, up 10.9% from the previous year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates cited by the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Because retail follows rooftops, Bella’s Market grocery store, geared mostly toward Gen Z and Millennial shoppers, followed. Vineyard ranked first in a 2024 StorageCafe list of the 10 fastest-growing U.S. housing markets. For the ranking, StorageCafe analyzed changes in housing stock from 2013 to 2022 in nearly 4,100 U.S. cities.

Amenities at the locally owned Bella’s Market, which encompasses 40,000 square feet, include a flower shop, bakery and pharmacy. Bella’s opened in late November at the more than 700-acre master-planned Utah City community, which at full buildout is expected to comprise more than 19 million square feet of mixed-use space. The grocery store helped kick off the first phase of Utah City’s retail presence. This year, the master-planned community will introduce a “curated “micro-retail village,” according to a spokesperson, with tenant announcements expected this spring. Woodbury Corp. and The Flagship Cos. are Utah City’s developers.