Rumors that Apple would relocate its existing Lenox Square retail store to the Buckhead mall’s front entrance might soon come to fruition.
A permit application filed with the City of Atlanta last week seeks approvals to construct a new “glass storefront” to the tune of $7.82 million in space adjacent Lenox’s main entrance.
Unlike other permit filings, this one does not name the tenant.
The application details do, however, match a Special Administrative Permit (SAP) submission that was shared with the Buckhead Development Review Committee in late-2018, as first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle (paywall.)
“Simon Properties is in the process of preparing a new two-story lease space on the north side of Lenox Mall, directly adjacent to the main mall entry for use by a new un‐named tenant,” according to the SAP submission.
As with the permit filing, the tenant was not named in the SAP “due to legal/confidentiality agreements.”
The American multinational technology company has long been known to keep its development plans under lock and key.
Several design elements of the plans included in the SAP are inline with recently-opened Apple stores worldwide including a floor-to-ceiling glass storefront, exposed wood, trees, and the placement of the “tenant’s signage.”
“We haven’t made any announcements,” an Apple spokesperson in a telephone conversation told What Now Atlanta Wednesday when asked about the plans.
An upgraded store at Lenox would be in keeping with the company’s recent strategy to accommodate its “Today at Apple” teaching events.
“To further enrich the Today at Apple experience in every store, Apple is upgrading the existing fleet of stores with design elements that greatly increase the store’s Today at Apple sessions and capacity,” according to a press release in early-2019 about the program.
“These upgrades include the addition of The Forum, an area of the store with a large video wall and seating, serving as a meeting place for the local community and home for Today at Apple. Some stores will add Avenues and, where possible, a grove of trees with integrated seating.”
Developing…
