A developer who integrated luxury townhouses into a suburban, mixed-use destination outside Atlanta more than a decade ago plans to use that same formula for a project in a neighboring city.
Mark Toro, principal of Toro Development Co., will build 133 brick townhouses at Medley, a 43-acre project under construction in Johns Creek, Georgia, the company said. Apartments, retail, restaurants, offices and a hotel also will be part of the mix at Medley, Toro Development said.
TDC broke ground in January on Medley at Lakeview Drive and Johns Creek Parkway. The three- and four-bedroom townhouses will range from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet and have three stories with outdoor terraces, according to the company. Prices have not yet been announced, and sales are expected to launch in 2026.
While the concept of luxury townhouses in a mixed-use development is a solid one, developers and prospective buyers need to be concerned about an economic downturn, said Ken Johnson, a finance professor and the Walker Chair of Real Estate at the University of Mississippi. This could affect the start dates for real estate projects such as the planned townhouses at Medley.
"We are staring down the barrel of a potential recession," Johnson said in an interview. "Potential buyers should be leery until the threat of recession has passed, simply because those economic conditions won't support luxury townhomes in a development like this."
While at North American Properties, Mark Toro led the development of Avalon, a $1 billion community in Alpharetta, Georgia, that opened in 2014. Both Johns Creek and Alpharetta are in Fulton County, north of Atlanta.
'People will pay a premium'
TDC is pointing to the townhouses' strong price appreciation over the past 10 years at Avalon as an indicator of the kind of success possible at Medley, the company's first project since Toro launched it in 2021.
“With Avalon, we saw incredible home value growth because of the unique lifestyle that comes with owning a home in a mixed-use environment," Mark Toro said in a statement. “We will create a similar experience outside the front door of Medley’s homes."
Suburban luxury housing offering the benefits of an urban lifestyle is an emerging category in residential real estate, according to Empire Communities, the homebuilder at Medley.
"Meals cooked by top chefs, coffee shops to work remotely, daily events and entertainment, fitness studios just steps away — this is what it’s like living in a mixed-use community, and people will pay a premium for it,” said Caroline Simmel, Empire's senior vice president of sales and marketing, in the statement.
Medley is scheduled to open in October 2026 on the site of a former State Farm office campus. The townhouses are the only planned for-sale units in the neighborhood that also will include a central green space with a pool and clubhouse, according to TDC.
It also will feature 150,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment, a boutique hotel, 110,000 square feet of offices, 750 apartments and a 25,000-square-foot plaza to host public events, TDC said. Medley is due to have a neighborhood grocer, a wine bar, Irish pub, a medical spa and 20 other shops and restaurants.