(Updated Aug. 10 with link to the AJC story.)
ATLANTA (Aug. 8, 2011) - Sunday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured an interesting article about the large amount of space the federal government occupies in metro Atlanta. All told, federal agencies occupy 8 million square feet in Atlanta.
"Of that, 4.7 million square feet is leased for $106.9 million in annual rents," AJC commercial real estate reporter Rachel Tobin writes. "Leases on about half that space, totaling $42.3 million in annual rent, expire in the next three years."
One leased building is 40 Marietta St., also known as Five Points Plaza or "The Pagoda Building," after its odd-looking stucco exterior (see for yourself at left). It's currently occupied by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The AJC article says Shyam Reddy, Atlanta region administrator of the General Services Administration, would like to relocated the HUD to the feds' Peachtree Summit building.
"Although the vacancy rate for federal buildings in metro Atlanta is only about 2.5 percent, Reddy said he has some space available that would allow him to cancel some leases," Tobin writes. "For example, he wants to move Housing and Urban Development out of privately-owned 40 Marietta St. into the government-owned Peachtree Summit building on West Peachtree. And he has some room at the recently renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building downtown."
Dick Bowers, one of Atlanta real estate's most prolific brokers/developers and colorful characters, lost control of Five Points Plaza in 2009, when it was sold at foreclosure.
While moving HUD from leased space to government-owned space sounds good to me as a taxpayer, it won't do much good for Marietta Street. As someone who worked on Marieta Street from 1999-2004 and 2007-2009, I saw the corridor improve. But "after" the recession, Marietta is having a tough time bouncing back from the loss of the AJC.
It certainly is a big lost for them - with those properties to lose on their side on the next couple of years - that would be really be sad for their company and group. nevada real estate license online
Posted by: Account Deleted | January 10, 2012 at 05:13 AM