A recently topped-out building that’s peeking over construction fencing along Memorial Drive is eastside Atlanta’s first Lidl location saying, “Guten tag.”

Claiming part of a parking lot, the 30,000-square-foot store is the latest in a dozen Lidl (pronounced “lee-dl”) locations to sprout in metro Atlanta—and the closest to the city’s core so far.

The German grocer’s project has been in the works for two years at 1807 Memorial Drive, where the south side of Kirkwood meets the Parkview neighborhood.

Lidl spokesperson Chandler Ebeier tells Urbanize Atlanta the store is on pace to open in the first half of 2022, though a specific grand opening date is pending.

“We’re looking forward to continuing our store expansion in Atlanta,” Ebeier wrote in an email, “and serving more customers with high-quality, award-winning products at unbelievably low prices.”

The broader Parkview Station shopping center counts AutoZone, gym Liv Fitness, and the all-girls Ivy Prep Academy at Kirkwood as tenants. Lidl’s corner site was previously home to a fire-damaged, former Pizza Hut that had been shuttered for several years. Construction began in February.

The former Pizza Hut, the parking lot's lone occupant, as seen in March 2021. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Facing west, a look at how the Lidl building is oriented at the corner of Warren Street SE and Memorial Drive. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Lidl’s arrival continues dramatic changes to Memorial Drive stretching for several miles east of downtown, where more than a billion dollars in investment has produced large-scale, mixed-use developments and new communities on formerly empty or underused lots.

Just east of the grocer’s site, homebuilder JackBilt has started construction on a 12-unit townhome project called Warren South, where prices will start in the high $400,000s, as company founder Jack Zampell told Urbanize Atlanta last month.

The same developer recently sold out a larger townhome venture, The Warren, on the flipside of the Lidl site.

In the past two years, Lidl has opened a dozen metro Atlanta outposts from Marietta to Suwanee and a new ITP store in Brookhaven, at a shopping center near the intersection of Briarcliff and North Druid Hills roads.

What to expect from Memorial Drive's Lidl bakery, according to previously released photos. Courtesy of Lidl

Preview signage on construction fencing today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

When DeKalb County officials approved Lidl’s Memorial Drive project in early 2020, they praised its lower-cost options in an area without another large-scale grocer closer than a Publix in East Lake two miles away.

Lidl reps have pointed to a recent study by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School showing the company’s pricing for items that include fresh food is up to 45 percent lower than national grocers’ operating nearby.

A year ago, Lidl announced plans to debut 50 new stores from New York to Georgia by the end of 2021, generating about 2,000 new jobs and boosting the company’s total U.S. stores to more than 150. The company offers “a leading wages and benefits package that includes healthcare insurance for all full and part-time employees,” according to a statement released at the time.

Lidl also plans to open a fourth U.S. distribution center east of Atlanta in Covington by the end of 2022.

Visit the gallery above for a preview of images provided by Lidl showing what Atlantans can expect in 2022 on Memorial Drive.

• Photos: Idle for years, historic Pratt-Pullman Yard is rapidly changing (Urbanize Atlanta)