The NHL in Alpharetta? What this all means for the North Point Mall area.

Could North Point Mall be the location for a Battery copy cat?

Well, that's what the developer, Atlanta based Jamestown LP, wants everyone to believe.  And they're one step closer to achieving their goal after Alpharetta City Council voted 4-3 approving the rezoning of the property in late August.

So what does this actually mean and what do they want to put there?  That's a great question.  From my understanding, the plan all hinges on the NHL actually awarding a franchise to Alpharetta.  If a franchise is awarded, then the project could include a 20,000 seat NHL arena, a separate 2,000 seat community and practice arena, 1,385 apartments, 650 hotel rooms, 750,000 sq ft of office space, and 565,000 sq ft of retail space.

If that seems like a lot to you, it seems like a lot to a lot of residents too.  While everyone agrees that the potential for tax revenue and consumer spending in the area would be excellent, there are a lot of other issues to look for as well.  Parking, for one.  Where on earth are all of these people visiting going to park?  And what about traffic?  The North Point area is already so congested.  Residents fear adding this level of development will make the already congested streets worse.  

A lot of citizens have also pointed out that Atlanta has had hockey teams twice before, and twice before the hockey teams have moved to different cities.  What makes people think this one will be any different?  And what happens if they build this giant arena for hockey and in ten years, the hockey team is gone?  At what point should we ask ourselves, what's worse?  A failed mall or a failed hockey arena?

This is a project you can bet I'll be keeping an eye on.  Let me know your thoughts about the Alpharetta NHL arena project below!