Medley Johns Creek: What Residents Need to Know Before the October Opening

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Medley is close enough to opening that Johns Creek residents no longer have to imagine it from renderings. Trader Joe’s is already operating, Boehringer Ingelheim has moved nearly 500 employees into its new headquarters, apartments are leasing, and dozens of restaurants, shops and service businesses are preparing for the larger public opening this fall.

But October 29 is not the day every part of this $560 million project suddenly becomes complete. Medley is opening in stages, with additional apartments, townhomes and a hotel still to come. Here is the more useful version of what North Atlanta residents should know.

What exactly is Medley?

Medley is a 43-acre mixed-use development at Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road, built on the former State Farm office property. At full buildout, the current plan calls for about 145,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 110,000 square feet of office space, 881 residences, a roughly 150-room hotel and a 25,000-square-foot central plaza.

The idea is to create a place where people can live, work, eat, shop and attend events without each use being isolated in a conventional suburban shopping center or office park. The developer often calls that a “third place,” meaning somewhere people spend time outside their homes and workplaces.

Is Medley the same thing as Johns Creek Town Center?

No. This distinction is easy to miss.

The Johns Creek Town Center is a much larger, roughly 192-acre area envisioned by the city around City Hall and the former Technology Park area. Medley occupies about 43 acres within that larger plan and is its biggest private mixed-use development, but it is not the entire Town Center. The city’s broader plan also includes public parks, paths and other redevelopment around the district.

In practical terms, Medley may become the most visible commercial and dining heart of the Town Center, while the Town Center itself extends well beyond Medley.

So when does Medley actually open?

The official ribbon cutting is Thursday, October 29 at 10 a.m., but the grand-opening celebration actually stretches across three days.

A ticketed preview called Medley Unveiled is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28 and benefits the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. The public ribbon cutting follows October 29. Then on Friday, October 30, Medley plans a family-oriented Party on the Plaza from 6 to 10 p.m. with live music, Halloween activities and other entertainment.

The more important point is that Medley is already partially open and will continue opening after that weekend. October 29 is a milestone, not the finish line.

What is already open?

Trader Joe’s became Medley’s first major retail tenant when it opened in June. Boehringer Ingelheim has also opened its roughly 73,000-square-foot U.S. Animal Health headquarters there, bringing close to 500 employees from the company’s former Duluth headquarters.

That means Medley is already functioning as both a shopping destination and workplace even before the larger restaurant and retail launch.

Will all of the restaurants and stores open October 29?

That is the goal for a substantial portion of the development, but readers should not assume every announced tenant will open on exactly the same day.

Toro Development said this summer that roughly 40 retail and food-and-beverage businesses were expected around the grand opening. Individual restaurants and stores can still have their own construction, inspection and staffing schedules, so some openings may move.

The announced mix includes restaurants ranging from 26 Thai Kitchen & Bar, Northern China Eatery and Lily Sushi Bar to Rena’s Italian Fishery & Grill, STIR, Tabla, Fadó Irish Pub, CRÚ, Shake Shack, Five Daughters Bakery, Summit Coffee, Minnie Olivia Pizzeria and Playa Bowls. Retail and service names include Sephora, Warby Parker, High Country Outfitters, Drybar, BODYROK, Petfolk, Sugarcoat, Kontour Medical Spa and Trader Joe’s.

That diversity is one reason Medley is likely to feel different from a standard suburban shopping center. The dining mix alone ranges from quick lunch stops to restaurants intended for a night out.

How many apartments will Medley have?

The residential portion is larger than it may appear from the first buildings.

Prelude at Medley, now leasing, contains 340 apartments. A second rental community called Encore is planned with another 408 homes and is currently listed as coming in 2027. Add the 133 for-sale Tableau townhomes and the current residential plan reaches 881 homes.

That residential population is important to the concept. Medley is being designed not only to attract visitors for dinner or shopping but to have hundreds of people living directly above or beside those businesses.

What do the apartments actually cost?

This is one place where the official Medley FAQ has already fallen behind the market.

Prelude’s own site confirms that one- and two-bedroom apartments are now leasing, although it does not prominently display prices. Current rental listings as of September 22 show base rents beginning around $2,108 and extending above $4,000 a month, depending on unit size, floor plan and availability. Listings range from roughly 788 square feet into the 1,500-square-foot range.

Those are live rental prices, not permanent published rates, and they can change with availability and incentives. Anyone seriously considering a lease should verify the current price directly before making a decision.

The broader point is clear: Prelude is positioned as luxury rental housing rather than an affordable-housing component of the project.

When can people actually move into the apartments?

Leasing is underway now. Current listings show some Prelude units with availability beginning around November 1, with other floor plans showing later dates extending into early 2027.

Prelude offers one- and two-bedroom homes with amenities including a pool, fitness and wellness spaces, coworking areas, a coffee lounge, outdoor gathering spaces and a pet spa.

What about the townhomes?

Empire Homes is developing 133 Tableau at Medley townhomes. Current marketing places starting prices in the $700,000s.

The townhomes are intended to provide the ownership side of Medley’s housing mix, while Prelude and the future Encore community provide rentals. Earlier project descriptions called for larger three- and four-bedroom, three-story homes, giving the townhomes a different target market from the one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Is the hotel opening this October too?

No. The hotel is a later phase.

Medley’s current plan calls for an approximately 150-room lifestyle hotel developed and operated with Mainsail Lodging & Development. It is scheduled for 2028, and a specific hotel brand has not yet been publicly announced. The development team has said it expects the property to operate under an upper-upscale lifestyle brand.

So visitors coming for the October opening should not expect to book a room at Medley yet.

Why have I seen different numbers for the hotel and apartments?

Because the project has evolved.

City information from the 2025 groundbreaking described a 175-room hotel, 750 multifamily residences and 133 townhomes. More recent Medley and Toro Development information shows a roughly 150-room hotel and a total of 881 residences: 340 Prelude apartments, 408 future Encore rentals and 133 Tableau townhomes.

For a project of this size, changes between zoning, design, leasing and construction are not unusual. The newer figures are the more useful ones for readers today.

What will parking look like?

Medley says visitors, residents, office workers and hotel guests will use a combination of surface parking and structured garages. The garages are intended to keep much of the parking away from the central pedestrian areas rather than surrounding every business with a large surface lot.

What is less clear publicly is the everyday visitor parking policy once the entire development is operating. A detailed public breakdown of total spaces, routine parking charges or validation rules has not yet been spelled out in the main FAQ. That is something worth watching as the October opening approaches.

Is Medley really walkable?

Inside the development, that is clearly the intention. Apartments, restaurants, offices, shops and the Plaza have been arranged so a resident or visitor can park once and move around on foot.

Getting to Medley is another matter. Johns Creek remains a largely car-dependent suburb. Even Prelude’s own transportation information acknowledges that most residents will find a personal vehicle the most practical way to travel, with regional bus and rail connections requiring additional travel.

So Medley may be walkable once you arrive, but it should not be confused with a transit-oriented urban neighborhood where most visitors can easily arrive without a car.

What about traffic on McGinnis Ferry Road?

Medley will bring a significant new concentration of residents, workers, shoppers and restaurant customers to a corridor that is already busy.

Separately from Medley, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Forsyth County and the Georgia Department of Transportation are widening McGinnis Ferry Road from two lanes to four between Sargent Road and Douglas Road. The project also includes pedestrian improvements and a new bridge over Caney Creek, with completion currently expected in 2028.

That means Medley will be growing into a corridor that is itself still changing. Drivers should expect the transportation picture around this part of Johns Creek and South Forsyth to continue evolving well after the grand opening.

Is Medley just another Avalon?

The comparison is understandable. Toro Development founder Mark Toro previously led development of Avalon in Alpharetta, and Medley uses the same broad idea of combining restaurants, retail, housing, offices and events in one walkable setting.

But Medley is a separate project built around Johns Creek’s own Town Center plan. It is also being developed on a former suburban office campus rather than simply functioning as a new shopping destination. The arrival of Boehringer Ingelheim’s headquarters makes the office component particularly important.

The better question may be whether Medley can give Johns Creek something the city has historically lacked: a recognizable central gathering place.

Will there really be 200 events a year?

That is Medley’s stated plan.

The 25,000-square-foot Plaza is intended to operate almost like the community living room, with concerts, exercise classes, markets, seasonal programs, movie nights and family events. Medley is advertising more than 200 events annually.

Some of the programming is already taking shape. An outdoor ice rink is scheduled to operate on the Plaza from November 23 through February 7, for example, with a larger holiday event planned for late November.

If that schedule is sustained, the events may become as important to Medley’s identity as any individual restaurant or retailer.

Will Medley create jobs?

It already has.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s relocation brought close to 500 employees into Johns Creek, although those should not be confused with 500 newly created jobs because many workers moved with the headquarters from Duluth. Restaurants, retailers and service businesses are also recruiting employees as they prepare to open. Medley’s own careers section currently lists positions with businesses including Drybar, Playa Bowls and Rena’s Italian Fishery & Grill.

The bigger economic effect will come from the combination of office employees, residents and visitors supporting businesses in the Town Center throughout the day rather than only during traditional shopping hours.

Can anyone attend the grand opening?

Yes, but not every event works the same way.

The October 29 ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. is part of the public opening celebration, and the October 30 Party on the Plaza is being promoted as a family-friendly public event. The October 28 Medley Unveiled preview is different: it is a ticketed fundraiser benefiting the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra.

That distinction is useful for families planning to visit during opening week.

Where exactly should I go?

Medley sits at Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road. Current Medley pages use 2140 Medley Boulevard, Johns Creek, GA 30097 as the main visitor address, while older development material and the FAQ have also used a Johns Creek Parkway address.

As Medley Boulevard and its internal street network become established, the newer Medley Boulevard address is likely to be the more useful reference for visitors.

What is still worth watching?

The biggest remaining questions are no longer whether Medley will happen, but how it functions once thousands of people begin using it.

How quickly will all of the announced restaurants open? Will parking remain easy on major event nights? How will the added traffic interact with continuing McGinnis Ferry construction? Will residents embrace a calendar approaching 200 events a year? And once the hotel and second apartment phase arrive, will Medley feel primarily like a regional destination or like a genuine downtown for Johns Creek?

Those answers will come only after the ribbon is cut.