What Is Being Built at Bethelview and Castleberry Road

The development at the corner of Bethelview Road and Castleberry Road in Cumming is Southard Exchange, about 59,000 square feet of restaurant, office and retail space on roughly 17 acres, developed by Abernathy Development. The first tenant opens on October 1: Chick-fil-A confirmed that date to Crawford Lands directly. Behind it are 7 Brew, Maepole, Shake Shack and Fifth Third Bank, none of which has announced a date yet.

Below is the full tenant list, the reason the openings at this center are tied to each other, and what the corner says about land on that side of the county.

What is on the site right now

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved the zoning for Southard Exchange in March 2024. Chick-fil-A applied for a site development permit in January 2025, and clearing began at the corner later that year. Forsyth County News photographed the site as graded dirt in August 2025.

The first building went vertical in May 2026. By the end of June, Chick-fil-A was installing wood framing and Maepole had laid its foundation. Maepole was still under construction in early September 2026. The site is laid out for five drive thru spaces, and Shake Shack took the last of them in June.

Tenant by tenant, what is actually confirmed

Tenant	Status	Confirmed by
Chick-fil-A	Opens October 1, 2026. A 5,180 square foot restaurant with a drive thru at 5529 Bethelview Road	Chick-fil-A, confirmed to Crawford Lands
Maepole	Under construction. Fall 2026 on the company’s own site. The Athens based chain’s fourth location and its first with a drive thru pickup lane	Maepole, and Forsyth County News
Shake Shack	Applied June 26, 2026 for the final drive thru space, facing Bethelview Road. The county’s first Shake Shack. No opening date announced	Forsyth County News, from county records
7 Brew	Named in the approved development since 2024. No opening date announced	Forsyth County News
Fifth Third Bank	Named in the approved development since 2024. No opening date announced	Forsyth County News

Several parcels are still available. Abernathy Development has said it is negotiating with a national tenant for the largest retail space, a parcel of about 20,000 square feet, which is the one worth watching for what this center becomes.

The Chick-fil-A here is the same store we wrote about in September 2025, not a second location. And Jeff’s Bagel Run at 5610 Bethelview Road, which people often assume is part of this center, is a separate site up the road, and it is already open.

Why the openings here are tied together

There is an unusual condition on this development that explains its timing, and it is not widely known.

When Chick-fil-A applied to build in January 2025, the plans for the project’s interior roads were not code compliant, which under the Unified Development Code blocked clearing. The Board of Commissioners worked around it by carving six plots along the perimeter of the 17 acres so those could be cleared while the road network was sorted out. By August 2025 the same blockage was stopping buildings from going up, and the Board passed an amended resolution letting tenants build anyway. County Attorney Ken Jarrard described the trade at the meeting: tenants could get a land disturbance or building permit, but no certificate of occupancy would be issued until the whole project was complete.

In plain terms, the county let them build early on the condition that nobody opened to the public until Southard Exchange as a whole was finished. Chick-fil-A opening on October 1 means that gate has cleared. It also means the remaining openings track the state of the development overall rather than any one tenant’s construction schedule, so expect the rest to follow closer together than they otherwise would.

What this corner says about west Forsyth land

The rooftops came first here and the retail is catching up to them. The developer’s own marketing counts roughly 18,010 households within three miles of the intersection and 44,669 within five miles on 2022 estimates, and those numbers have only gone up since. Retail follows households; it does not lead them.

Five drive thru spaces filled on a single corner is a more specific signal than a grocery anchor. Quick service brands underwrite conservatively, off traffic counts and daytime population rather than projections, and five of them committing to the same intersection means that corner now clears their thresholds. That is a harder number to argue with than a rezoning application. It took this one from approval in March 2024 to a first opening in October 2026, which is a realistic clock for commercial land in the county.

For landowners nearby, the sequence matters more than the tenant list. Frontage on Bethelview and Castleberry is being priced today against a center that is not yet open. Once it is trading and traffic counts are measured rather than modeled, the remaining pads and the frontage around them get repriced against real performance instead of a site plan. That the largest retail parcel is still in negotiation says the market has not finished setting that price.

This is the same intersection we first wrote about in 2023, when the plan was restaurants, office, retail and a gas station. Most of it is being built. For the wider picture, see our 2026 projects to watch roundup.

Frequently asked questions

What is being built at Bethelview and Castleberry Road?

Southard Exchange, a commercial development of about 59,000 square feet on roughly 17 acres at the corner of Castleberry and Bethelview roads in Cumming, developed by Abernathy Development. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved it in March 2024. It has five drive thru spaces, taken by Chick-fil-A, 7 Brew, Maepole, Shake Shack and Fifth Third Bank.

When does the Chick-fil-A on Bethelview Road open?

October 1, 2026. Chick-fil-A confirmed the date to Crawford Lands. It is a 5,180 square foot restaurant with a drive thru at 5529 Bethelview Road.

Is Shake Shack coming to Cumming?

Yes. Shake Shack applied on June 26, 2026 for the final drive thru space at Southard Exchange, facing Bethelview Road. It will be the county’s first Shake Shack; the nearest one now is in Alpharetta on Haynes Bridge Road. No opening date has been announced.

When does Maepole in Cumming open?

Later in 2026, according to Maepole, which gives fall 2026 on its own site. It is the Athens based chain’s fourth restaurant and its first with a drive thru pickup lane, and it was under construction at Southard Exchange in September 2026.

What else is going in at Southard Exchange?

Along with the five drive thru tenants, several parcels remain available. Abernathy Development has said it is negotiating with a national tenant for the largest retail space, a parcel of about 20,000 square feet.

Is Jeff’s Bagel Run on Bethelview Road open?

Yes. The Cumming location at 5610 Bethelview Road is open, 6:30 AM to 2 PM daily. It is a separate site up the road, not part of Southard Exchange.

Sources

Chick-fil-A opening date confirmed to Crawford Lands by the restaurant, September 25, 2026.

Abernathy Development, Southard Exchange, Castleberry and Bethelview Rd: https://abernathydevelopment.com/project/castleberry_bethelviewrd/

Maepole locations: https://maepole.com/locations

Jeff's Bagel Run locations: https://jeffsbagelrun.com/locations

Forsyth County News, When Chick-fil-A, 7 Brew and more can start building at this development site, August 11, 2025: https://www.forsythnews.com/news/growth-development/when-chick-fil-a-7-brew-and-more-can-start-building-at-this-development-site/

Forsyth County News, Construction begins on first of five drive-thru restaurants at west Forsyth County development, May 27, 2026: https://www.forsythnews.com/news/growth-development/construction-begins-on-first-of-five-drive-thru-restaurants-at-west-forsyth-county-development/

Forsyth County News, Where Shake Shack plans to open its first restaurant in Forsyth County, June 29, 2026: https://www.forsythnews.com/news/growth-development/where-shake-shack-plans-to-open-its-first-restaurant-in-forsyth-county/

Forsyth County News, This Georgia-based, fast-casual restaurant will open its first Forsyth County location in 2026, September 4, 2026: https://www.forsythnews.com/life/food-drink/this-georgia-based-fast-causal-restaurant-will-open-its-first-forsyth-county-location-in-2026/

Crawford Lands, LLC is a licensed real estate brokerage in the State of Georgia, license #81852. This article is general information, not legal, tax or appraisal advice. Development plans, tenants and opening dates change; confirm anything you rely on with Forsyth County Planning and Community Development or with the developer. Contact us.