Whole Foods: Specialized Midtown concept is still a go despite delays

For weeks, Midtown residents eager for walkability to a supermarket that promises to be unlike most any other intown have grumbled about a lack of construction progress at the corner of 14th and Spring streets.

Because crickets can be disconcerting at the site of a proposed, cosmopolitan Whole Foods concept that’s said to include—beyond gourmet groceries—a pub, cooking school, microbrewery, a variety of food venues, and a rooftop patio bar with skyline views.

It was all supposed to have opened in the first quarter of this year, per initial announcements.

Rachael Dean Wilson, Whole Foods spokeswoman, told Curbed Atlanta this week the project is indeed moving forward, but the company is mum on a timeline for construction or an outlook for the opening.

“We just don’t have additional details to share at this time,” Wilson wrote in an email.

Curbed Atlanta

Reps with The Related Group, which recently finished the Icon Midtown tower next door, say the developer has completed the shell for Whole Foods and essentially handed over the keys for an interior buildout.

No activity was spotted inside during multiple visits to the site the past couple of weeks.

The Whole Foods site began construction with excavations last summer. Per earlier announcements, it will offer 72,000 square feet of space across three levels, with high visibility and entrances from three sides, including West Peachtree Street.

It would serve as retail anchor for the 39-story Icon, which stands out with elements that include a lighted, towering HENSE mural and glass-edge hot tub overhanging 14th Street. Floorplans range from 600-square-foot studios to three-bedroom, two-bathroom pads with more than 1,400 square feet.

The Related Group

• Photos: Icon Midtown celebrates opening, touts views for days [Curbed]