Twenty-two apartment properties traded in metro Atlanta during the first quarter of 2026 for just over $1 billion, nearly double the $528 million that traded across 15 deals in first-quarter 2025. Our team’s current offerings are seeing tour volume of 30 to 40 prospects, which is up 20 percent from a couple years ago. We are also seeing 20 or more offers per property, and the quality of buyer has greatly improved — capital has stopped waiting for clarity and started competing for product. Liquidity rebounded in the Atlanta apartment market in 2025, and the supply-demand setup heading into 2027 is the reason institutional and private capital is moving now rather than later. Let’s start with the rebound. Across 2025, transaction count rose 31 percent, total dollar volume increased 18 percent and average cap rates tightened roughly 16 basis points. Buyers paid up for better-located, higher-quality assets and stayed disciplined on legacy unit-count metrics. The bid-ask gap that froze 2023 and most of 2024 finally closed, but on terms that rewarded specificity rather than just appetite. Sellers, for their part, have moved into a more pragmatic posture. A meaningful share of 2026 activity reflects fund-life timing decisions — sponsors that …
Atlanta’s office market has begun a new phase of stabilization, recovery and momentum. Following years of workplace adjustments brought on by the pandemic, real-time market data now points to a steady and sustained comeback. Companies are expanding their office footprints and establishing return-to-office (RTO) policies that are bringing employees back together. Whether you are a local resident noticing busier morning commutes or a business owner curious about the local economy, current real estate trends offer a fascinating look at where Atlanta is heading. Statewide momentum Georgia continues to prove its status as a top destination for business recruitment and organic growth. Atlanta acts as the central engine, supported by a highly skilled workforce and a welcoming business climate, which supports the health of the local office market. Recent high-profile corporate announcements highlight this momentum. For example, healthcare technology company Glytec recently announced plans to relocate its global headquarters to the Northwest Atlanta submarket. This major move will bring 500 new jobs to the metro area. Other significant commitments include UCB’s massive investment to establish its first United States manufacturing facility and Yamaha Motor Co.’s decision to relocate its national headquarters to Atlanta, not to mention Rivian’s ongoing growth in the …
Mixed-use development across the Southeast continues to change and evolve. What was once as straightforward as building residential apartments located above a street-level retail component has become something far more sophisticated and intentional. Today’s mixed-use communities offer integrated, experience-driven environments where all elements of living, working, shopping, dining and recreation are thoughtfully curated, with connectivity as a primary focus. The North Georgia region, located approximately 40 miles north of Atlanta, is where residential demand is rising, incomes are growing and consumer preferences are changing. As these trends converge, developers seek the opportunity to create true neighborhood hubs in the area. The Crossing at Coal Mountain, located in Forsyth County, is a new 140-acre mixed-use destination by Atlantic Residential that reflects how development strategies are evolving in response to these market shifts. The project will feature walkable streets, activated green spaces, local dining, daily lifestyle services and a carefully programmed retail plaza alongside luxury homes being developed in partnership with national homebuilder Toll Brothers. Each of the project’s planned elements is designed to support a true live-work-play environment. Phase I of the project’s retail district is on track to open this year, positioning the development to contribute to the region’s broader …
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Tariffs Are Moving the Needle for Manufacturing, Distribution Demand on the I-85 Industrial Corridor
More than seven months have passed since Liberation Day, where the Trump administration declared a sweeping package of tariffs for foreign trade partners and specific commodities, including steel and aluminum. Since the announcement in early April, there has been a boon in the amount of multibillion-dollar advanced manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductor and data center investment announcements around the country, with the markets along the I-85 Industrial Corridor being no exception. To name a few: Toyota has recently begun production at its $13.9 billion battery plant in Liberty, N.C.; Rivian broke ground on its $5 billion electric vehicle plant near Social Circle, Ga.; JetZero is planning to create 14,500 jobs for an aerospace manufacturing facility in Greensboro, N.C.; Eli Lilly is developing a $5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Richmond suburb of Goochland County, Va.; and Google is developing a trio of data centers in metro Richmond’s Chesterfield County. “We have incredible momentum bringing business back into the United States, which is going to drive industrial growth, particularly in the Southeast,” says Jim Anthony, CEO and founder of APG Companies. “We’re not unionized, we have lower taxes, fewer regulations and lower cost of energy, which is huge factor in site …
Atlanta’s multifamily market has been in a slump that would even make Braves fans wince. After peaking with record-breaking sales in 2021, volumes slid as borrowing costs climbed and supply piled up. But just like any good ballclub, the fundamentals matter, and the data suggests momentum is quietly building for a 2026 comeback season. Sales volume trends According to research from CoStar Group, institutional multifamily sales in Atlanta (transactions of $50 million or more) peaked in 2021 at $12.8 billion, driven by record pricing, historically low borrowing costs and robust rent growth. Since then, record supply, rising expenses and a sharp increase in borrowing costs have pushed sales volumes down by more than 70 percent, averaging just $3.5 billion annually over the past three years. While the broader U.S. economy has surged since 2022 — the S&P 500 has climbed 45 percent since fourth-quarter 2022 — commercial real estate has been searching for its bottom. Data now suggests that Atlanta has reached this inflection point, and history indicates increased activity and rising values in the years ahead. Parallels to the GFC Looking back at the global financial crisis (GFC) provides valuable context. The chart above (inflation-adjusted using Real Capital Analytics’ …
If you’ve spent any time driving around Atlanta recently, you’ve probably noticed something. More development sites are returning with bulldozers and developers are taking down land parcels in the suburbs the size of small European countries. But this time, the approach is more strategic than ever. Gone are the days when a developer would carve out a shopping center for base rents less than $40 per square foot and call it a day. Today, some metro Atlanta developers are assembling larger tracts and creating hybrid projects that include multifamily housing, storage and even industrial uses in the back of the parcel, saving the front-facing road frontage for ground leases, build-to-suits and limited shop space. Automotive and restaurants concepts are clamoring for pads. The result? Those once-overlooked “front and center” pad sites and strip centers are suddenly the belle of the ball. The downside is paying too much on the buy side for the dirt for aggressively low caps rates. But all I can say for the rental rates that I’m seeing is “Wow.” Restaurants still lead In Atlanta’s retail market, restaurants continue to be the leading driver of leasing activity. According to observations, excluding junior box space, food-and-beverage deals made …
After several years of breakneck growth, Atlanta’s industrial sector has clearly shifted into a mid-cycle recalibration. Vacancy has climbed to 8.4 percent, well above the 10-year average of 5.8 percent, as a record wave of big-box deliveries collides with softer demand. Twelve-month net absorption turned negative for the first time since 2011, dropping 453,000 square feet despite 14.9 million square feet of new deliveries over the past year. Developers and tenants alike are adjusting, but the region’s logistics advantages and diverse economy keep long-term fundamentals intact. Supply and demand The pandemic-era surge of speculative construction has decisively slowed. Construction starts have fallen roughly 70 percent from the five-year average, leaving 16.3 million square feet under construction, with just 25 percent available — down from 60 percent a year ago. Most large projects are now data centers, such as a 1.5 million-square-foot QTS facility in Fayette/Coweta County and a 1.2 million-square-foot Microsoft data center near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Vacancy is rising fastest in submarkets that saw heavy new supply. Kennesaw/Acworth, for example, has added over 9 million square feet since 2023 and now posts about 13 percent availability for buildings sized 200,000 square feet and larger. Sublease availability has grown …
Atlanta’s commercial office market is at a pivotal moment, caught between signs of stabilization and the lingering effects of a post-pandemic reset. Vacancy remains elevated, absorption is improving and tenant preferences continue to evolve — but fundamentals are beginning to shift as the market adjusts to the new workplace. Signs of a bottom? Hybrid work models, space optimization strategies and cautious expansions have elevated metro Atlanta’s office vacancy rates. Direct vacancy rates surpassed 24 percent for the first time and are hovering near all-time highs. Meanwhile, sublease availabilities have declined over 25 percent from their peak in 2023, and quality space remains difficult to find. The slowing pace of vacancy increases suggests the market may be nearing a turning point after recording negative annual absorption in four of the past five years. Net absorption, a key indicator for overall office sector health, totals negative 438,000 square feet, according to Colliers’ second-quarter 2025 report. While still in the red, this marks a significant improvement over previous years. Recent leasing activity suggests even more positive movement in the second half of the year, indicating that tenant departures are tapering and space givebacks are moderating. Leasing: quality vs. quantity Despite economic headwinds, leasing …
Five years after the world shut down, the national multifamily market is still on a roller coaster ride. After the highs of 2021 quickly turned into the lows of 2023, the dust settled in 2024. Today, the market has begun to reactivate while continuing to grapple with the aftereffects of the run-up. While national multifamily transactions soared 22 percent in 2024, Atlanta transaction volume was flat year-over-year as the investment community shifted a favorable view of Atlanta toward ambivalence. Perceptions surrounding new supply and non-paying tenants contributed to the city falling out of vogue with some investors, but Atlanta is a resilient market. With new deliveries having peaked in 2024 and property-level fundamentals rapidly turning the corner, Atlanta may be beaten up, but the light at the end of the tunnel is coming into focus: Atlanta is still a long-term winner. Days of peak supply are over While Atlanta experienced a record 24,000 units delivered in 2024, that figure represents just 4 percent of its total inventory. When compared to other Sun Belt markets like Charlotte (10 percent of total inventory delivered in 2024), Nashville (8 percent) and Dallas (5 percent), the number doesn’t seem as jarring. Looking ahead to …
Tenants are battling it out for Atlanta’s top-tier office space as trophy availability tightens and new office construction draws to a halt. With no end to the flight-to-quality trend in sight, Class B assets accounted for a whopping 70 percent of the market’s overall negative absorption (-736,682 square feet total net) in the first quarter of 2025, while Trophy assets recorded positive absorption (+114,579 square feet). Furthermore, office buildings that delivered between 2016 and 2021, which amount to almost 14 million square feet of space, currently average 92 percent occupancy. This underscores the growing divide between the haves and have-nots in Atlanta’s office market. Premium space in demand As office leasing activity reaches its highest level since 2019, decision-makers face a rapidly evolving landscape where securing the right space requires a highly motivated and strategic approach. With rising attendance mandates, workforce expansion and a limited supply of premium office space, competition for the best locations is intensifying. In Atlanta, submarkets like Midtown and Central Perimeter continue to outperform. Mini submarkets surrounding mixed-use districts like Avalon and The Battery (i.e. “urban-edge” in the suburbs) are also in high demand among tenants craving walkability and upscale amenities in the metro’s most sought-after …
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