Shopping center planned for Lou Sobh Ford site

The 10-acre site which was Lou Sobh Ford at 1665 Scott Blvd. in Decatur is currently under contract to Concordia Properties LLC in Roswell, which plans to develop a 300,000-square-foot shopping center on the site, according to the developer's site plans.

DeKalb County's zoning on the site, commercial redevelopment corridor, allows retail, office, condominium, townhouses, industrial and mixed-use development, according to county planning officials. Jim Cunningham, vice president of Lou Sobh Automotive, said the former Ford dealership, which closed Dec. 28, is under contract, and that the area "is going through an urban transition and becoming more dense."

The dealership land now has a higher and better use, he said. "The value of the land has matured beyond the return for a car dealership," Cunningham said. Car dealerships in Atlanta would face the same struggle, he said. "You can't afford downtown Atlanta land, at 5 to 6 acres, for a car dealership. The cost of the land is enormous. I think you are seeing that in Decatur, too."

LRS|Atlanta Business Chronicle|2008Mar14

Between North DeKalb, Suburban, the strip mall on Church, and now this; we'll have plenty of shopping centers on that side of Decatur [not far outside the city limits].

Obviously, Concordia feels it has a better plan for attracting shoppers to North Decatur, since Suburban is dying a slow death and North DeKalb has plenty of empty parking spaces most of the time.

The big question: What big stores will "anchor" it? I vote for a Lowes, since it's too late to get a Wal*Mart.

This is probably going to be a mixed-use development, wouldn't your think?

The former home of Royal GMC, at the intersection of Church and Scott, remains empty.