Gainesville council approves Lakeshore Mall rezoning for mixed‑use Lakeshore PUD

The Gainesville Mayor and Council approved a rezoning request Tuesday to turn the 48.86‑acre Lakeshore Mall site at 150 Pearl Nix Parkway SW into a planned unit development called “Lakeshore.” The motion to approve rezoning ordinance 2025‑O1, which includes 13 staff‑recommended conditions, passed unanimously.

The rezoning will allow a mixed‑use redevelopment that the applicant said would include just under 304,000 square feet of commercial space (retail, restaurants, office and entertainment), up to a 95‑room hotel, 652 multifamily units and about 80 townhomes, plus more than an acre of programmed green space. Branch Properties representatives told council demolition and infrastructure work are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026, and the company estimates full build‑out across multiple phases could take about seven years.

The project matters because it redevelops a long‑standing regional shopping center into a mixed‑use town‑center type development that the city’s comprehensive plan has identified as a potential redevelopment area. Planning staff and the Planning and Appeals Board recommended approval; the council voted to adopt the rezoning with the 13 proffered quality conditions.

Mister Tate, the city planning staff member who presented the application, told the council the site is within the gateway corridor overlay zone and the West Side character area and that the proposed plan aligns with the comprehensive plan’s mixed‑use future land use category. "This is for a mixed use development that will be known as Lakeshore," Tate said during his staff presentation.

Branch Properties’ chairman, Taleska, described the proposal as a way to "place this asset back into service as an asset for the community." Jack Hallett, a Branch Properties representative, told the council the developer intends to start major work on site entrances and infrastructure on day one of construction to keep existing stores such as Belk and Dick's operational during redevelopment. "The day we start, the first thing we're doing is all the entrances," Hallett said.

Kimley‑Horn traffic engineer John Walker summarized a traffic study covering 16 intersections and said the mixed‑use proposal would generate about 2 percent fewer daily net trips than a fully active 500,000 square‑foot retail center. Walker said proposed improvements include a new right‑turn deceleration lane at Shallowford Road, exclusive left‑turn lanes on some side‑street approaches and a new right‑in/right‑out driveway to disperse traffic flows.

Kimley‑Horn civil engineer Krish Patel addressed stormwater and erosion control, saying the team had coordinated with the city’s water resources staff and will design controls in compliance with the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual and the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Patel said the project reduces total impervious area compared with the current mall configuration and will implement best management practices to treat runoff.

Council members who spoke during and after the vote expressed support for the redevelopment as a reuse of a long‑standing site and for the amount of programmed green space in the plan. The council’s approval was unanimous.

Next steps: With the rezoning approved, the developer and city staff will proceed under the plan’s phasing schedule; the applicant presented a commitment to begin entrance and infrastructure work at the outset of construction and estimated demolition and initial improvements would begin in the third quarter of 2026.