Emory Healthcare's Growing Tucker Campus: A Housing and Commute Guide for Physicians and Staff

If your new role has you spending time at Emory Healthcare's campus in Tucker, Georgia, it's worth understanding what's actually happening there right now, and what it means for where you might want to live.

What's happening at the former Northlake Mall

In July 2026, the Northlake Mall property in Tucker (DeKalb County, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta) was sold to the Centurion Foundation for $95 million. Emory Healthcare, which has leased roughly 274,000 square feet in the mall's former Sears building since 2019, is expanding its footprint there under a new long-term agreement, more than doubling its current occupancy. The site already houses more than 1,000 Emory employees, a primary care center that opened in 2025, and a childcare center run with Primrose School that opened in 2024. Centurion has indicated further campus development is funded and planned over time. Nearby, Emory also operates the Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital on Montreal Road.

This is an office and clinical consolidation, not a new inpatient hospital, but it represents a genuine, growing employment center in the Tucker and DeKalb County area, which matters for anyone planning a move around it.

Why it's worth thinking about now

A campus that's already over 1,000 employees and actively expanding changes the commute math for the people who'll work there over the next several years, not just this one. If you're relocating for a position tied to this campus, or simply spend regular time there, it's worth choosing a home based on where the job is actually growing, not just where it started.

Neighborhoods within a reasonable commute

None of these is the answer. The right choice depends on your commute tolerance, budget, and whether you want a more in-town or more suburban feel. A few honest reference points:

• Tucker is the closest option, with a smaller but growing inventory of single-family homes and an increasingly walkable town center.
• Chamblee sits a few miles southwest, with MARTA rail access at the Chamblee station for anyone who'd rather not drive every day.
• Brookhaven is a somewhat longer, more upscale option with higher average price points.
• Stone Mountain and unincorporated DeKalb County are generally more affordable, with larger lots, at the cost of a longer drive in peak traffic.
• Decatur is further out but well known for walkability, a common choice for people willing to trade a few extra minutes of commute for it.

Timing the move around a new position

Coordinating a purchase with a new position, especially one with a credentialing or start-date timeline, is one of the more common ways physician moves go sideways. If you are earlier in the process, start with relocating to North Atlanta as a physician or healthcare professional, which walks through the sequencing in detail.

For the practice side of this work, Physician Real Estate covers both halves of the move: buying into the area, and selling before you leave the one you're in.

Disclosure: Peter Iyiegbu, MD, MBA is a physician and a licensed REALTOR®. This article is general real estate and relocation information, not medical, tax, legal, or financial advice, and is not produced by, affiliated with, or endorsed by Emory Healthcare.