Flagship retail, an upscale food market, chef-driven restaurants and boutique movie theater are just some of the retail mix that North American Properties is seeking to bring to a revamped Colony Square by 2018.

NAP’s managing partner Mark Toro said during a Let’s Talk Midtown session on Sept. 27, held in the atrium of Colony Square, said that removing the roof over the shopping mall and reorienting the retail storefronts to Peachtree and 14th Streets will begin in about a year.

Toro said NAP is in talks with New York-based Eataly to open an outpost of its Italian market and curated, chef-driven restaurants including one by Chef Ford Fry.

The movie theatre would not only offer films, but high-end food and beverage in a dinner setting, similar to CineBistro in Brookhaven. Toro was not specific about which retailers NAP is in discussions with, but said flagship, large-scale “billboard” stores are being sought.

Toro said the “re-imagining” of Colony Square was inspired by the “free and easy cafe lifestyle” found in Madrid’s Plaza de Santa Ana, which is full of restaurants and tapas bars with a big outdoor dining scene. Toro said new art installations, like the giant Midtown letters fronting Peachtree and murals by local artists, have already begun to change Colony Square. Activities like Yoga in the Square, the soon-to-open bicycle parking area called Bike Haus, real-time transit screens, parking deck enhancements and reopening of the rooftop helipad are also transforming the complex, Toro said.

You can watch the full Let’s Talk Midtown session on Colony Square’s Facebook page at this link.