Atlanta’s office market feels like a story of winners and losers. Tenants continue to pay increasing rents for the best located, highest-quality spaces while the sector overall experiences negative office absorption. Those big, shiny objects, so to speak, offer quite a contrast to the results of continued office sector adversity brought on by reduced office attendance, a downsizing leasing trend and swelling sublet space. Who’s in the best position to win? Well-capitalized owners with stabilized debt (or none) that can meet the increasing tenant demands for skyrocketing tenant improvement costs and other rental concessions. With continued construction cost increases and downward pressure on base rental rates, fiscally sound landlords with longer-term business plans are in the best position to transact. And, of course, the newest buildings with the best location, amenity package and a reasonable commute for the majority of the workforce continue to thrive. CoStar Group reports that during the past 12 months, net absorption in office buildings completed before 2020 was negative 4 million square feet compared to 1.1 million for newer properties. The Atlanta office market has produced some sizable transactions this year, fueling some optimism among landlords with larger blocks of space for lease. The most …
UNION CITY, GA. — Woodfield Development has delivered Union Green, a 295-unit apartment community located at 4980 Stonewall Tell Road in Union City, a southwest suburb of Atlanta. The property features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments averaging 741 to 1,573 square feet in size. Monthly rental rates range from $1,498 to $4,175, according to Apartments.com. Amenities include a swimming pool with a sun lounge area, club lounge, demonstration kitchen for events, outdoor social commons with a grilling area, wellness and fitness studio and a sky lounge that offers views of downtown Atlanta’s skyline. The project team for Union Green included general contractor CBG Building Co., architect of record Fifth Dimension Architecture and interior designer Shelton Taylor + Associates.
ATLANTA — EōS Fitness has announced plans to enter the metro Atlanta market and open 50 gyms throughout Georgia over the next 10 years. The first several gyms are scheduled to open by 2027, with each location averaging 40,000 to 50,000 square feet in size. Each EōS gym comes outfitted with strength and cardio equipment, training turf areas and recovery options including cryotherapy, cold plunges and infrared saunas. Every location also offers personal trainers, onsite staff and group classes. “Atlanta is the third-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States, and venturing here represents a key milestone in our long-term vision for EōS,” says Rich Drengberg, CEO of the brand. The EōS portfolio currently includes more than 175 locations open or underway in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Utah. The Dallas-based company plans to surpass 250 gyms nationwide by 2030. Each new gym represents an approximately $10 million investment and creates 40 to 60 jobs.
SOUTHAVEN, MISS. AND BUFORD, GA. — JLL has negotiated the $25 million sale of a hotel portfolio in the Memphis suburb of Southaven, as well as the $11 million sale of a hotel in Buford. The properties included the Courtyard Memphis Southaven (85 rooms), the Residence Inn Southaven (78 rooms) and the Fairfield Inn & Suites Buford (94 rooms). C.J. Kelly and Bobby Norwood of JLL represented the buyer, Woodvale Opportunity Fund I, in the transaction. The seller was Chartwell Hospitality.
AUSTELL, GA. — Lee & Associates has arranged a 103,776-square-foot industrial lease at 7815 Third Flag Parkway in Austell, a suburb in Atlanta’s I-20 West submarket. Earnest Machine Products, an industrial fastener distributor based in Cleveland, signed the lease with the landlord, Link Logistics, an industrial real estate owner founded by Blackstone in 2019. Mike Sutter and Rick Tumlin of Lee & Associates’ Atlanta office negotiated the lease deal.
ATLANTA — Portman has delivered Ten Twenty Spring, a new 530,000-square-foot office tower in Midtown Atlanta. The Class A office building is part of the locally based developer’s Spring Quarter mixed-use development that comprises the office tower, an apartment high-rise called Sora that opened last fall, street-level retail space and the historic H.M. Patterson Home and Gardens. Ten Twenty Spring features 32,000-square-foot floor plates and 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as 15,000 square feet of private terraces and 20,000 square feet of amenity space. Sozou, a new Japanese restaurant from Chef Fuyuhiko Ito, will open at the office tower’s ground floor in summer 2025. The restaurant group will also open Omakase by Ito on the office tower’s eight-floor rooftop. Portman has tapped Glenn Kolker, Preston Menning and Malik Leaphart of Stream Realty Partners to lease Ten Twenty Spring.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — RocaPoint Partners has announced that Trader Joe’s will open a new 13,500-square-foot grocery store at Halcyon, a mixed-use development in the north Atlanta region of Forsyth County. Located in Alpharetta near the Big Creek Greenway trail, the grocery store will be situated next to the new Chick-fil-A as part of the third phase of Halcyon, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of operation. Other committed tenants of Halcyon’s Phase III include Chewy Vet Care, Chase Bank and Five Guys. Halcyon also includes The Village Green central gathering space for events, offices for Morgan Stanley, an Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel, CMX CInebistro, X-Golf, a food hall, Cherry Street Brewpub and several shops and restaurants. The new Halcyon store will bring the number of Trader Joe’s locations in metro Atlanta to eight.
As the Atlanta industrial market continued its slowdown as of the end of the second quarter in 2024, there were three main stories to consider. First, the biggest news was that the Atlanta industrial market experienced four quarters of negative net absorption of 8.8 million square feet during this past year (we have had five quarters in a row.) At the same time in 2023, we reported 17.2 million square feet of positive net absorption, and in 2022, we reported 42.7 million square feet of positive net absorption, so these latest negative absorption numbers were a huge drop from the previous positive absorption numbers. The second biggest news story was that the Atlanta industrial market saw a dramatic slowdown in big-box deals. There were only nine transactions that were consummated over the past four quarters that were 500,000 square feet or larger, and none of those deals were over 1 million square feet. In contrast, in 2023, 21 big-box transactions were completed that were over 500,000 square feet, and 11 of those deals were 1 million square feet or larger. The year-over-year decline was 15 million square feet less. The third biggest news story was that the new construction …
CUMMING, GA. — CTO Realty Growth Inc. has announced a round of new retail openings and leases at The Collection at Forsyth, an open-air mixed-use development in Cumming, an Atlanta suburb in Forsyth County. Sephora and Kilwins opened new locations at The Collection in November, and boutique Pilates fitness concept Bodyrok and pickleball concept The Picklr have recently signed leases to join the tenant roster. Sherri Wilson of JLL handles the retail leasing at The Collection on behalf of CTO. Additionally, True Rest Float Spa and Bahama Buck’s are set to open in the coming weeks, joining existing tenants including J. Crew Factory, Mellow Mushroom, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Pandora, Parsons Gifts, Le Macaron, Master Jewelers, Woof Gang Bakery, The Good Feet Store, Spavia and F45 Training. JLL launched repositioning and leasing efforts at The Collection in January 2023.
AUGUSTA, GA. — Miami-based Flacks Group has purchased Crowne Plaza North Augusta, a 180-unit hotel in Augusta. Built in 2019 near the Augusta GreenJackets’ Minor League Baseball ballpark, the hotel features meeting spaces, the Salt + Marrow steakhouse and a rooftop bar called Jackson’s Bluff. Hodges Ward Elliott represented Flacks Group in the transaction. The seller and sales price were not disclosed, but the Post and Courier North Augusta reports that Ackerman Greenstone sold the property. Blue Lotus Ventures was a consultant in the transaction, and J.P. Morgan provided an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing.