North Atlanta’s NHL Race Is No Longer Just Alpharetta vs. South Forsyth
North Atlanta's NHL franchise race now includes three groups. Alpharetta and South Forsyth have arena plans ready, while a third led by Anson Carter seeks a site north of Atlanta. The NHL's expansion decision remains uncertain.
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For much of the past year, North Atlanta’s pursuit of an NHL franchise looked like a contest between two places along the GA-400 corridor: North Point Mall in Alpharetta and The Gathering at South Forsyth. That picture has changed. The NHL is now talking with a separate group led by former NHL player and TNT analyst Anson Carter, creating a third path toward bringing major-league hockey back to metro Atlanta.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Carter is no longer aligned with the Alpharetta group he previously championed. Carter has presented evidence that his new group has adequate financing, Daly said, but it has not chosen an arena site. The search is focused somewhere north of Atlanta.
That creates an unusual new dynamic. Carter appears to be approaching the NHL question from the ownership and financing side first, while the two established North Atlanta proposals have spent years doing the opposite: identifying land, designing arena districts and working through local government approvals.
Two prepared sites, and now a third contender
In Alpharetta, the North Point Mall redevelopment calls for a 20,000-seat arena as the centerpiece of a much larger sports and entertainment district. Alpharetta City Council approved the plan last month, with the arena portion dependent on the NHL ultimately awarding a franchise.
South Forsyth is considerably further along in assembling its public framework. Forsyth County has approved definitive agreements for The Gathering, a multibillion-dollar mixed-use development along Union Hill Road with an NHL-ready arena. The county’s financial participation in the arena is conditioned on the NHL awarding a franchise to the project.
Carter’s group, by contrast, now needs a place to put its arena. That may become the most interesting part of the story for North Atlanta residents. Daly has only described the search as being north of Atlanta, leaving open a large geographic area that could include another North Fulton location, a different part of the GA-400 corridor or somewhere outside the two communities that have dominated the conversation so far. No third site has been publicly identified.
The development also changes the question facing Alpharetta. Carter had been one of the most recognizable figures associated with the idea of bringing the NHL to North Point. His decision to pursue a separate effort means the North Point project now has a highly developed location and arena concept while the ownership picture remains less visible publicly. Carter’s new effort appears to have the opposite problem.
The NHL still has not promised Atlanta anything
Three interested groups do not mean Atlanta is getting an NHL team. Daly has continued to caution that league expansion itself is not guaranteed, even as the NHL holds discussions with prospective owners in Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix. The league is further along in discussions over a possible Texas franchise, but even that process remains unresolved.
For North Atlanta, though, this week’s development is significant for a simpler reason. The hockey conversation is no longer a straight choice between Alpharetta and South Forsyth.
There are now two publicly defined arena sites and a third ownership effort looking for somewhere else to build. The next major development may not be another rendering or zoning vote. It may simply be an address.
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