Orchid Grove Receives Fresh Demolition Permits Near Duluth

A long-planned redevelopment of the former Gwinnett Prado shopping center has received two new demolition permits, marking renewed activity at the 33-acre Orchid Grove site near Gwinnett Place Mall.

Gwinnett County issued the two permits Oct. 12 for 2300 Pleasant Hill Road. The authorized work is valued at $153,000 and $162,000, bringing the combined total to $315,000.

Both permits are limited to demolition. Tristar America LLC of Norcross is the contractor.

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The property has a Duluth mailing address but sits in unincorporated Gwinnett County, near the intersection of Pleasant Hill, Satellite Boulevard and Old Norcross Road.

Developer Insignia’s current plan for Orchid Grove calls for replacing the roughly 400,000-square-foot shopping center with a 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use district. The proposed development would include retail, offices, a food hall, townhomes, a nationally branded hotel and two public parks.

More than 850 apartments are also planned, potentially making Orchid Grove one of the largest private redevelopment projects in the Gwinnett Place area.

The project has been discussed for years. Renderings released in 2019 showed restaurants, shops, offices, housing and public gathering spaces replacing most of the aging Gwinnett Prado complex. A possible groundbreaking was anticipated that year, but the larger development did not follow.

Additional demolition permits were issued in 2022 without leading to the proposed buildout. That history makes the latest approvals a meaningful sign of work at the property, though they do not establish that vertical construction is imminent.

Orchid Grove could eventually complement the broader effort to remake the Gwinnett Place district, adding housing, dining and public space along one of the county’s busiest commercial corridors.

A construction schedule, completion date, hotel brand and initial tenant lineup have not been announced.