Skyline Views

CoStar News Scoop: Chicago Hedge Fund Behind Huge BeltLine Project

APRIL 26, 2018|TONY WILBERT CoStar News

 

Chicago Hedge Fund Backs New City's BeltLine Plans

Andy Bluhm's Delaware Street Capital Identified as Owner of Former Georgia Power Site

DJ Frank Ski Puts His Buckhead Restaurant on the Market

UPDATE from Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Frank Ski's Restaurant & Lounge is for sale at $395,000 in cash for the assets inside the building and the rights to a long-term lease for $18,000 a month. 

Rodney also, in a classy media move, credited Eli Zandman of Tomorrow's News Today with breaking the news. In this case, Eli did in fact have tomorrow's news a day early.

ATLANTA (Feb. 26, 2015) - Uber -DJ Frank Ski's restaurant on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, which recently only operated as a club at night, is on the market.

The freestanding 8,000-square-foot restaurant basically on top of the BeltLine is available for a mere $395,000 -or for lease at a "blow-out" below-market rent of $18,000, according to The Shumacher Group, which has the listing. Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the story about the marketing of Frank Ski's, which opened in September 2011.

The sale of Frank Ski's Restaurant and Lounge likely will be followed by the sale of the entire Bennett Street development (stay tuned).

The owner recently placed large pieces of beige packing paper to block most of the view into the restaurant.

Here's how Shumacher's Steven Josovitz described the property, which has housed several concepts, including Mick's and Thirsty Dog Tavern.

This is a sale of a well known , well established full service restaurant in the heart of  Buckhead. This super hot Buckhead location is surrounded by Midtown,Downtown and the Perimeter marketplace affording an amazing middle to hi income, hi density residences, tons of retail, restaurants, office hi rises, hotels, convention centers stadiums, concert halls, etc and two regional malls Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza.

Space is approximately 8,000/sf with seating for 400 in an amazing build out that was recently renovated at over $1,000,000 creating a stunning and state of the art facility.

In addition to indoor seating of 400 space has 30-seat bar, 2-private dining rooms accommodating ten guests and one seating 75-guests and a special wine cellar dining room.

Outdoor seating is set up for 120 but can easily accommodate 400 in a special events set-up. Owners spent $200,000 on outdoor venue alone.

- Tony Wilbert, The Wilbert Group, 404-405-3656

Where's Former Atlanta BeltLine President Brian Leary? In the @WSJ, That's Where

Anyone wondering what former BeltLine President and CEO Brian Leary is up to these days need look no further than today's Wall Street Journal.

In September, Charlotte-based Crescent Communities picked Leary as president of its commercial and mixed-use divisions, and he's already overseeing development of a $500 million mixed-use development dubbed Tryon Place.

In today's Plots & Ploys column in the WSJ, Leary tells reporter Peter Grant that Crescent is seeking an anchor tenant and hopes to get construction finance to start the project next year. Short of that, Crescent "also might move forward with all-equity financing if it can find a partner," Grant reports.

Grant's column item, under the headline "Charlotte is Chugging," focuses on office developers moving ahead with spec office towers "for the first time in years" and says it's a "sign of strength" in second-tier cities. Charlotte boosters will love the item but might quable with being termed second-tier. The Wilbert Group, the nationa's leading commercial real estate PR firm, is proud to represent Charlotte-based Lincoln Harris, which has some cool plans of its own for the Queen City.

As for Leary, it's good to see him moving and shaking again. He rejoined Jacoby Development after resigning as BeltLine president as the result of an inquiry into expense reports. We hated that he left Atlanta but are glad to see him kicking ass in Charlotte.

 

Aging Building Gets New Life as City of Atlanta's Only Gun Range

ATLANTA (Oct. 26, 2014) - The only public gun range in the city of Atlanta, slated to open very soon, is a unique adaptive reuse of a vacant, aging industrial building in west Midtown. And don't be surprised if the project wins an award at ULI Atlanta's 21st Annual Awards for Excellence in September 2015.

Stoddard's Range and Guns second location, under construction at 485 Bishop St. in Atlanta's Home Park neighborhood. The project appears to be wrapping up, and the owners have painted "Stoddard's Range and Guns" on the street-facing exterior wall. 

Stoddard's has built a reputation as a top gun-range operator with its original location on Bankhead Highway in Douglasville. In fact, Creative Loafing readers just voted it metro Atlanta's best shooting range - for the third consecutive year.

A prominent member of Atlanta’s commercial real estate industry backs owners Ken Baye and Michael Halbreich. They're a pair of resilient businessmen, having bounced back nicely after a fire destroyed their Douglasville location in 2009.

The Bishop Street location likely will be the only gun range we see in the city of Atlanta for a long time. City codes would have to be changed to open the door for additional ranges. We imagine Atlanta Police Department higher-ups will be glad to have an intown range at which their officers can take shooting practice.

The new location will stress safety and offer members the opportunity (and encourage them to) store their firearms under lock-and-key at the facility. Stoddard's also will position itself as an entertainment venue where members can come for a good, safe time.

Stoddard's west Midtown location is part of the resurrection of Bishop Street. Industrial real estate firm Rooker went back to its roots and moved it headquarters to a cool, glass-heavy building on the street, and The Worthing Cos. has started work on the 244- unit community Heights at West Midtown at 507 Bishop.

 

 

Former Atlanta BeltLine President Heading to Charlotte for New Job

ATLANTA (Sept. 3, 2014) - Brian Leary, the former president of Atlanta BeltLine Inc. and one of the key players in the redevelopment of former Atlantic Steel (now Atlantic Station) site, is heading to Charlotte.

Leary, who rejoined Jacoby Development Inc. after leaving the BeltLine amid some controversy in August 2012, has accepted a position with Crescent Communities, where he will head commercial development.

Jarred Schenke of Bisnow broke the news today. I wish Brian the best of luck in the Queen City and wanted to send him off with an oldie-but-goodie BeltLine update that I got when The Wilbert Group represented Carter. Below the video is Jarred's scoop.

We just learned yesterday that Jacoby Development's wunderkind Brian Leary has taken a job as head of commercial development for Crescent Communities. It's a huge move for Brian, who was one of the main architects for Atlantic Station, and one of the pioneers for the smart growth development movement. Brian's most recent stint with Jacoby comes after a term overseeing the BeltLine until 2012. Since rejoining Jacoby, Brian has spearheaded the developer's efforts on a number of projects, including The ONE Daytona mixed-use project.