Atlanta’s Top 10 Office Deals in 2017

By Timea Papp

As one of the most important economic centers of the Southeast region, Atlanta has garnered attention from both foreign and domestic investors in 2017. Established submarkets such as Midtown, Galleria and the Central Business District have seen the most investment activity. Yardi Matrix has put together a list of the biggest office transactions that shaped Atlanta’s office market in the past year.

10. Atlanta Galleria Office Park – Galleria 200

In one of the first major office deals of 2017, Piedmont Realty Trust paid $69.6 million for Galleria 200, a 438,000-square-foot tower within the Atlanta Galleria Office Park. Lone Star Funds sold the Class A property in January. Located at 200 Galleria Parkway SE in Atlanta’s Northwest submarket, 200 Galleria is the closest gateway to SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta pedestrian bridge.

 

9. Piedmont Center North 15

The Ardent Cos. purchased the 303,693-square-foot Piedmont Center North 15 from Northwestern Mutual in a five-building, $144 million portfolio transaction. The buyer shelled out $71 million for the 15-story property in August. Completed in 1997, Piedmont Center North 15 is LEED Silver certified and is located at 3575 Piedmont Road NE.

 

8. Piedmont Center North 1-4

The 517,980-square-foot property is part of the $144 million portfolio The Ardent Cos. snagged from Northwestern Mutual. Piedmont Center North 1-4 commanded $73 million and encompasses four buildings on 11.08 acres. The seven-story properties are LEED certified and are subject to a $100 million financing held by KKR, along with Piedmont Center North 15. The mortgage is scheduled to mature in September 2022.

 

7. 100 Peachtree

The LEED Silver-certified office tower changed hands in a $79.5 million deal in May. Chicago-based Zeller Realty Group acquired the 32-story asset from a partnership between Five Mile Capital Partners and Equitable Real Estate Partners. Heitman provided $78.8 million in acquisition financing and the loan is set to mature in May 2022. The 622,301-square-foot building recently underwent a $33 million capital improvement program.

6. Northside Center Pointe I & II

Physicians Realty Trust paid $156 million for the 363,174-square-foot medical portfolio in September. This was the second transaction for the Class A property in 2017. Northside Center Pointe I & II previously changed hands in April, when Duke Realty sold it to Healthcare Trust of America as part of a 75-property, $2.8 billion portfolio. Located at 1100 Johnson Ferry Road NE in Sandy Springs, Ga., the two-building asset was completed in 1985 and underwent cosmetic renovations in 2011.

5. Piedmont West

The Class A, 268,000-square-foot medical office building traded for $160 million when CBRE acquired a 95 percent interest in a 27-building U.S. portfolio. The investor paid $550 million to a partnership between MB Real Estate and Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors. Located at 1800 Howell Mill Road NW, Piedmont West was the largest property acquired in the portfolio. Capital One facilitated the transaction with $309.5 million in acquisition financing due to mature in August 2024.

 

4. American Cancer Society Center

One of the largest properties to change hands in 2017 was the 995,728-square-foot American Cancer Society Center in downtown Atlanta. Cousins Properties sold the Class A asset in a $166 million deal to Carter Validus in June. KeyBank funded the transaction with a $116.2 million loan scheduled to expire in July 2027. Developed in 1989, the building sits on a 3.41-acre parcel at 250 Williams St. NW and is LEED Silver certified.

 

3. Regions Plaza

PGIM Real Estate purchased the 23-story Regions Plaza—previously known as Atlantic Center Plaza—from Crocker Partners in one of the largest deals in 2017, for $176 million. The 501,184-square-foot office building was completed in 2001 and is LEED Platinum certified. Located at 1180 W. Peachtree St. NW, Regions Plaza previously changed hands in April 2013, when Crocker Partners acquired the asset from DRA Advisors.

 

2. Atlantic Station – 271 17th Street

Houston-based Lionstone Investments shelled out $182 million for the BB&T-anchored office tower in Midtown Atlanta. CBRE sold the LEED Gold-certified property after a six-year ownership. The asset is part of Atlantic Station, a mixed-use redevelopment of the historic Atlantic Steel Mill. The 25-story office was completed in 2007 and encompasses 541,789 square feet.

 

 

1. State Farm Atlanta Hub – Phase I

The most recently completed property in our list commanded the most in 2017. The first phase of State Farm’s corporate campus traded hands for $275.4 million in July. Shortly after KDC delivered the buildings, State Farm sold it to Transwestern and continues to occupy the 590,926-square-foot property. Located at 236 Perimeter Center Parkway, the Class A asset is LEED certified. The second phase will include the construction of a 22-story and an 18-story office building. Once complete, the campus is expected to house more than 8,000 workers of the insurance company.

Images courtesy of Yardi Matrix