The project would occupy 24 acres adjacent to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.

By David Allison  –  Editor-in-Chief, Atlanta Business Chronicle

Nov 29, 2021

Atlanta developer Seven Oaks Co. is proposing a five-building industrial development adjacent to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Chamblee.

The project would occupy a 24-acre site at 3311 Catalina Drive between Chamblee Tucker and Chamblee Dunwoody roads, at the northern end of PDK’s runways. It’s being called Chamblee International Logistics Center.

Seven Oaks in early 2021 planned to develop a single-building, 103,000-square-foot “last mile” industrial facility with 675 parking spaces on the property. The “end user” of that project later decided that facility was no longer needed at this time, Seven Oaks says in new plans filed with the city of Chamblee.

Seven Oaks says in its plans that its new proposal will allow for the same general industrial use while providing “a more generally marketable layout in order to attract other end users.” There is also a chance the original “end user” could determine the site is necessary for its business purposes once again, in which case Seven Oaks is asking the city for approval to revert back to the original plan.

Map showing location of Seven Oaks Company’s planned logistics center in Chamblee, GA.

The five newly proposed buildings would total 256,000 square feet, each containing 18,000 to 86,000 square feet. Chamblee planners are scheduled to review the plans on Dec. 1. Seven Oaks will have to be granted variances to proceed with the project.

Seven Oaks has developed 2,200 acres and has more than 2 million square feet under management, the company says on its web site.

The developer says the new project would include a community garden area on two outparcel, hand-cut trails along stream beds, and installation of “rail trail” specification frontages along Chamblee Tucker Road and Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Plans call for 360 parking spaces.

Site plan for Seven Oaks Co.’s proposed five-building industrial development in Chamblee.

The property was part of a residential subdivision built in the 1950s, and was later acquired by DeKalb County in 2002 as part of the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport noise abatement buyout funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The site was later rezoned to be part of the International Village of Chamblee project, where plans called for a 500,000-square-foot mixed use development featuring a hotel, conference center, outdoor amphitheater, offices, restaurants and specialty retail spaces.

The “Great Recession” halted those plans, and the property was sold in 2014 to its present owner, NCP Fund I Holdings LLC of Westport, Conn.