You’ve Heard About The Gathering. But What Is It, Actually?

You have probably heard the name The Gathering by now.

Maybe in a conversation about the NHL. Maybe because you have seen the renderings. Maybe because dirt is finally moving near GA 400 in South Forsyth.

But if somebody asked you what The Gathering actually is, how big it is, what is supposed to be there and what is really under construction right now, could you answer?

BBDN went back through the Forsyth County agreements, approved civil plans and regional-development documents to separate the big vision from what is physically happening today.

First, how big is The Gathering?

This is where the scale starts to make sense.

Forsyth County’s 2024 Memorandum of Understanding identified approximately 102.72 acres of project property. The current approved civil package covers an 88.13-acre grading site, with 75.38 acres identified as disturbed area.

Project	Approx. scale
The Gathering	102.72 acres
Avalon	86 acres
Johns Creek Town Center	192 acres
Medley	43 acres

So if Avalon is your mental benchmark, The Gathering’s overall project property is bigger. If Johns Creek Town Center is your benchmark, The Gathering is roughly half the size of that broader district. Medley, the major private mixed-use development inside Town Center, is 43 acres.

So what is actually supposed to be there?

The easy shorthand is “the NHL project.” That leaves out most of the project.

Forsyth County’s June 2025 definitive-documents presentation described a phased mixed-use district built around a major arena and entertainment component.

• 1.6 million square feet of office and retail space
• An approximately 700,000-square-foot arena with 18,500 seats
• Two to five hotels totaling about 500 rooms
• 1,800 multifamily residential units
• 150 single-family detached residential units
• An offsite practice-ice and community-ice facility
• About 1.2 miles of Greenway trail connectivity
• A 15,000-square-foot public-safety building for a fire station and Sheriff’s precinct
• Parking decks, roads, utilities and supporting infrastructure

In other words, the arena is the attention-grabber. The actual vision is a much larger destination district with housing, hotels, offices, shopping, dining, entertainment and public infrastructure built around it.

What is actually happening on the property right now?

This part is no longer theoretical.

Forsyth County approved Clearing and Grading case CG260010 in late July 2026. The approved civil plans identify the work as mass grading for The Gathering at South Forsyth.

The current work includes clearing and grubbing, demolition of existing site elements, major earthwork, erosion-control measures and temporary stormwater detention.

The approved civil set shows approximately 456,761 cubic yards of cut and 515,422 cubic yards of adjusted fill. That is a major construction operation. It is also still site preparation.

The plans state that final utility infrastructure, roadways and landscaping will be permitted separately.

The development team has said the site-work phase is expected to continue for roughly five months, followed by utility and electrical work, with broader construction planned for summer 2027. That is the developer’s stated timeline, not confirmation that every future building permit has already been issued.

There is also demolition, drainage work and a protected cemetery

The approved demolition sheets show existing buildings and other site elements within the disturbance area scheduled for removal. The plans also call for temporary stormwater detention facilities as the site is reshaped.

One unusual detail appears directly in the civil set: a known cemetery is identified on the property. The plans require that it remain undisturbed, be protected with fencing and retain reasonable visitor access during construction.

And then there is the NHL question

South Forsyth has not been awarded an NHL franchise.

Dirt moving at The Gathering and an NHL decision are connected stories, but they are not the same milestone.

The Atlanta-area NHL picture has also become more competitive. A separate Anson Carter-led ownership effort has emerged apart from both The Gathering in Forsyth County and the North Point effort in Alpharetta.

That leaves multiple Atlanta-area efforts trying to solve the same basic NHL puzzle: ownership, financing, arena site and league approval. None has been awarded a franchise.

Why this matters even if you do not care about hockey

If The Gathering develops anywhere close to the scale described in the county framework, this is not simply a sports story.

It would add a major concentration of housing, hotels, offices, retail, entertainment, roads, parking and public infrastructure along the GA 400 corridor in South Forsyth.

For nearby residents, the practical questions are about construction timing, traffic, road improvements, what gets built first and which portions of the project can move ahead before there is a league decision.

What could this mean for South Forsyth real estate?

The useful real-estate question is not whether The Gathering automatically makes nearby homes worth more. There is not enough evidence to make that claim.

The more relevant question is whether a project of this scale changes how buyers compare South Forsyth with Alpharetta, Johns Creek and other North Atlanta locations.

If the district eventually delivers more restaurants, entertainment, employment, trails and public infrastructure, that changes the lifestyle equation. It also creates tradeoffs around traffic, construction and proximity to a much busier destination.

That is the part I would watch as a buyer or homeowner, not a blanket promise about appreciation.

What should you watch next?

1. Site work: how the approved mass-grading operation progresses.
2. Next permits: separate approvals for utilities, roads, landscaping and eventually vertical construction.
3. What gets built first: which mixed-use components move from framework documents into permitted construction.
4. NHL status: any actual league action involving The Gathering, North Point, the Anson Carter-led effort or another Atlanta-area ownership group.

Related North Atlanta reading

Johns Creek Town Center + Medley: what is open, what is still being built and what opens next

Avalon in Alpharetta: the complete benchmark for shopping, dining, living, offices, hospitality and mixed-use development

North Point: what Alpharetta approved and what still has not happened

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Gathering at South Forsyth?

The Gathering is a planned mixed-use entertainment district near Union Hill Road, Ronald Reagan Boulevard and GA 400. County framework documents describe an arena, office and retail space, hotels, residential uses, trails, public-safety facilities and supporting infrastructure.

How big is The Gathering compared with Avalon?

Forsyth County’s 2024 agreement identified about 102.72 acres of Gathering project property. Avalon describes its Alpharetta mixed-use community as 86 acres. The current Gathering mass-grading package itself covers an 88.13-acre site.

Is The Gathering under construction?

Site preparation is underway. Forsyth County approved mass grading, clearing, demolition, erosion-control measures and temporary stormwater work. That is real construction activity, but it is not the same as vertical construction of the buildings.

Is the arena under construction?

Not based on the current grading permit. The permit reviewed by BBDN establishes land-disturbance and site-preparation work, not vertical arena construction.

Has South Forsyth been awarded an NHL team?

No. South Forsyth has not been awarded an NHL franchise. The NHL question remains separate from the site work that is already underway.

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The bottom line: The Gathering is not just a hypothetical arena anymore. A massive site is being graded for a much larger mixed-use district. But the arena itself is not under vertical construction, and an NHL team is still not confirmed.

BBDN Newsroom will keep following the permits, construction sequence, county records and NHL process as The Gathering at South Forsyth moves forward.