Daniel B.
Yelp
As a homeowner and resident in Atlantic Station since 2005, I view Avalon as the Atlantic Station of Alpharetta (or the Atlantic Station of the north Atlanta suburbs). They're both large mixed-use developments with housing, offices, shops, restaurants, green/event spaces, movie theater (both Regal), grocery store, concierge, holiday ice skating rink, and hotel. It's no coincidence the two developments share many similarities because Avalon was developed at the same time Atlantic Station was being renovated by the same developer, North American Properties.
What are the differences? Avalon is newer. Avalon opened in 2014 and Atlantic Station opened in 2005. Avalon was wholly developed by North American Properties. Atlantic Station was originally developed by The Jacoby Group (Jim Jacoby) and AIG, then sold to North American Properties at the end of 2010 after the Great Recession. Another difference is Avalon is more upscale, targeted towards an older, wealthier, suburban demographic. Atlantic Station caters to a younger, more diverse, urban demographic.
North American Properties has since sold both Avalon and Atlantic Station. Avalon was sold to PGIM Real Estate in 2016. Atlantic Station was sold to Hines in 2015. In these two cases, it appears North American Properties was in the business of developing/renovating and flipping. Under new ownership, the properties have gone their separate ways with Hines doing a second set of major renovations to Atlantic Station's retail district and central park area plus the construction/completion of several new homes, office buildings, and other facilities. The latter includes T3 West Midtown, home of Facebook's Atlanta offices, two Microsoft buildings, an Embassy Suites (second hotel), Atlantic Stacks (more townhomes), and a 103,000-square-foot arena for the Overtime Elite pro basketball league.
Avalon is a solid 30-plus-minute drive from Atlanta. It was intended for those in the north metro suburbs, especially Roswell and Johns Creek, and to a lesser extent, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, East Cobb, and Peachtree Corners. Living in the city, I don't have a reason to go to Avalon unless I'm going for a special event or someone wants to get lunch/dinner at an Avalon restaurant. In other words, there's no shop, restaurant, nor other business at Avalon that's worth going out of my way for.
Examples of special events I've attended at Avalon include a walking tour in October 2014 when the property was still under construction (https://www.yelp.com/biz/cmye-elite-special-avalon-hard-hat-walking-tours-alpharetta), a Salud! Cooking School class inside Avalon's Whole Foods Market in March 2018 (https://www.yelp.com/biz/salud-cooking-school-alpharetta), and Yelp's Aloha Summer Luau at The Hotel at Avalon in August 2018 (https://www.yelp.com/biz/yelps-aloha-summer-luau-alpharetta).
I think Avalon is great for the area. I'm not too familiar with Alpharetta and the immediate surrounding area, especially north, but I don't believe there was anything like Avalon in the vicinity before 2014. Another mixed-use development, Halcyon, opened about six miles away in September 2019. Halcyon is like the Avalon for folks who live north of Avalon, towards Cumming. It's my understanding that Avalon took business away from Alpharetta's North Point Mall, a traditional indoor shopping mall. For example, the Crate and Barrel that used to be near North Point Mall closed and moved to Avalon. Maybe Halcyon will have a similar effect on The Collection at Forsyth, an older, outdoor mall. Then again, metro Atlanta continues, as always, to grow so perhaps there will be enough population to sustain all the businesses at these developments.
Like any metro Atlanta mixed-use development or food court/food hall that has opened in the last 10 years (e.g. Ponce City Market, Krog Street Market, The Battery, Marietta Square Market, The Collective Food Hall at Coda), both Avalon and Halcyon have brought local Atlanta brand names, in terms of restaurants and restaurant owners/chefs, to Alpharetta. Examples include Antico Pizza and Caffe Antico from chef/owner Giovanni Di Palma, Bocado Burger, once associated with The General Muir chef/owner Todd Ginsberg, District III Vietnamese restaurant and MF Bar from the Kinjo brothers of MF Sushi, South City Kitchen from Fifth Group Restaurants, and Superica from chef/owner Ford Fry. Several of these same restaurant owners/investors also have stakes in the aforementioned other developments.
Other local restaurants that have opened locations at Avalon include Cafe Intermezzo, Farm to Ladle, gusto!, and Rumi's Kitchen. It's a solid lineup.
I also have to mention Italian restaurant Colletta and Oak Steakhouse, both owned and operated by Charleston-based Indigo Road Hospitality Group. I've been to both and if there are any restaurants at Avalon that are worth going out of your way for, it's Colletta and Oak Steakhouse. Both have great food, ambiance, and service.