Skyline Views

Every Landmark Office Tower Needs Cool Signage

ATLANTA (Aug. 27, 2014) - Signage typically is a key negotiating point of any large office lease, and it's at the center of an interesting legal action in Midtown, where a well-known law firm is objecting to a venerable Atlanta REIT's plans to add signs for a tenant at the Promenade office tower in Midtown.

We'll let the attorneys figure out how to settle that matter, though you can scroll down to read more about it.

I'm more interested in why such a signifcant building such as Promenade has no signage. The 691-foot-high landmark office tower is cleary visible in Atlanta's skyline, and more importantly, to the thousands of cars that travel the Downtown Connector each day.

Any large tenant is missing a nice branding opportunity by now having a sign plastered on such a notable building. I know law firms typically shy away from placing their logo or names atop towers because it might be considered gaudy and not align with their image, but that thinking needs to change amid today's hyper-competitive, branding-is-critical business atmosphere.

Even the conservative Georgia-Pacific posted a nice blue "GP" insignia on its namesake tower in downtown Atlanta after years of having no expsoure atop the pink-granite signature office tower.

I think every multitenant tower needs signage, and a "FD" on three sides of Promenade (thanks to ajc.com for the cool photo) would look good (once the attorneys have settled the matter).

Here's a quick recap of the aforementioned legal action:

On Friday, Smith, Gambrell & Russell filed sued against Cousins Properties, claming that Cousins and the ownership of Promenade failed to get the law firm's approval for its plans to erect "FD" near the top of the landmark 691-foot-high office tower at Peachtree and 15th streets, according to a story in today's Daily Report.

 

Cousins acquired Promenade II in 2001, paying $134.7 million. The REIT sliced off the "II" from the name after Promenade I was renamed for David R. Goode of Norfolk Southern fame, which now is sole tenant at the smaller building, which reaches only 154 feet.

 

 

Houston REIT Might Replace Buckhead Retail Center with High-Rise

ATLANTA (Aug. 26, 2014) - AmREIT of Houston has acquired Tuxedo Village Shopping Center near Roswell and Piedmont roads in Buckhead and is considering scraping the center and replacing it with a high-rise mixed-use project.

That's the scoop this morning from longtime commercial real estate reporter Ralph Bivins and RealtyNewsReport.com. Tearing down a low-slung retail development and replaing it with a vertical mixed-use property is part of AmREIT's densification plan for Houston, Bivins reports.

A mere three years ago, Atlanta Business Chronicle ran a story about a previous owner's plans to dress up Tuxedo Village's image.

AmREIT, which paid $28 million for  Tuxedo Village Shopping Center, entered the Atlanta market with its acquisition of Brookwood Village, a CVS-anchored retail center in Brookwood Hills, Atlanta's best neighborhood (and not just because I live there). 

Here's Bivins' big scoop:

AmREIT Eyes High-Rise Densification of Buckhead Center Just Acquired for $28 Million

HOUSTON— AmREIT Inc., a Houston-based REIT, is considering a high-rise redevelopment of a Buckhead shopping center it has purchased in Atlanta.

AmREIT may be pursuing in Atlanta the same densification strategy is it pursuing in Houston’s Uptown District – tearing down one-story retail and replacing it with high-rise office, hotel or condo towers.

AmREIT paid $28 million to acquire Tuxedo Festival Shopping Center in Buckhead in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, a 54,643 square foot shopping center located on 3.96 acres in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta.

The center is located on Roswell Road, just south of Chastain Park and just north of Piedmont Center in affluent Buckhead, at the intersection of Roswell Road, Piedmont Road and Old Ivy Road.

Tuxedo Festival benefits from over 48,800 households within a three-mile radius of the property, daytime employment within the same radius of over 109,000, and average household income of over $130,800 within a one-mile radius, according to Sites U.S.A. Tuxedo Festival is 87 percent occupied with tenants including Regions Bank, Zoe’s Kitchen, and Flip Burger.

Kerr Taylor, AmREIT’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are very pleased with the acquisition of Tuxedo Festival – a jewel in Buckhead that epitomizes our trademark of an Irreplaceable Corner. Its location serves the most affluent Buckhead neighborhoods and some of the densest concentrations of commercial real estate in the Southeast. This exciting new investment will immediately grow cash flow and net operating income, while creating longer term opportunities to potentially capitalize on the 440,000 SF of maximum development density, which could include high rise residential, office, additional retail and parking.”

AmREIT was subject to a takeover appeal by Regency Centers, but it rejected a $22 per share offer. Jacksonville-based Regency says its still interested in a combination of the companies.

Sale of This Atlanta Office Tower About to Set Buckhead Record

ATLANTA (May 14, 2014) - The office tower at 3630 Peachtree, also home to the Ritz-Carlton Residences, took longer than expected to lease up. But that probably won't stop owners Pope & Land and Duke Realty from reaping a record price when the office portion is sold.

And that sale might be imminent, according to Jarred "Scoop" Schenke of Bisnow Atlanta. Schenke reported today that Chicago-based investor Heitman has contracted to buy the 3630 Peachtree office space for $380 a square foot, which would smash the previous high of $346 a foot set when REIT Parkway Properties acquired the office portion of 3344 Peachtree, also home to Sovereign condominium. 

In December 2010, Skyline Views was the first to note that Parkway's acquisition would set the new price-per-square-foot record in tony Buckhead.

This does make me think that office towers with high-end condos and amenities in the same building might be the new standard-bearer in office sales in Atlanta.

We'll be watching for official confirmation of the 3630 Peachtree sale. It would be a good sign to see Heitman make such a big bet on Atlanta commercial real estate.

Epic Battle Brewing over Suburban Atlanta Office Complex

ATLANTA (Oct. 29, 2013) - Century Center is a somewhat nondescript office-and0-hotel complex in unincorporated DeKalb County just outside Atlanta. Easily visible from I-85, the Class B office park usually doesn't garner that much attention.

That's all changed now that two of DeKalb's newest cities - Chamblee and Brookhaven - want to annex the complex to reap the benefits of property tax revenue its owner pays each year. The owner, Raleigh, N.C.-based REIT Highwoods Properties, probably wishes this fight never started.

The fascinating commercial real estate story landed on Page One of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning because a Superior Court judge ruled that Chamblee residents will have first shot at voting whether to annex the 100-acre commercial complex that is home to the Georgia Department of Revenue and a litany of corporate tenants. Brookhaven residents will only get to vote on annexation if Chamblee residents reject the idea next week.

I can undertsand why Chamblee and Brookhaven both want the complex. Commercial real estate is a great asset and, if done right, is something cities can be proud of. Not to mention that BOMA named Century Center the 1997 Suburban Office Park of the Year. 

Click here to read the entire AJC story.

 

Energy Efficiency from Georgia Pacific, JLL Brightens Atlanta's Skyline

Very cool infographic from Georgia-Pacific about how its sustainable practices at Georgia-Pacific Center are paying off. Jones Lang LaSalle manages the iconic tower that Invest Atlanta also calls home.

The Wilbert Group is honored to have just completed a project on behalf of the Georgia-Pacific Foundation.

SkyHouse Midtown Rising Quickly But Far From Record Pace

ATLANTA (July 25, 2012) - SkyHouse Midtown, the 23-story apartment tower under construction at West Peachtree and 12th streets, seems to have gone up in record time.

Seems like only a couple months ago since Batson-Cook Development and Novare Group kicked off construction of the building. (Actually, the official groundbreaking occurred on a warmer-than-usual Feb. 1.) When I drove by the site Sunday, it became clear the construction team lead by Baston-Cook's contracting arm, wants to complete the tower before Atlanta's hot multifamily market overheats.

It got me thinking about record times to complete towers, and as if on cue, the current issue of Fortune included a graphic about the speed of getting the world's tallest towers from start to completion.

One World Trade Center, which will be a symbolic 1,776 feet tall is rising at a clip of 0.6 feet a day, according to the piece. The world's current tallest buiding, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, went up at a faster pace of 1.5 feet/day. But the Chinese seem to be the masters of speed building, or commercial real estate propaganda.

The Chinese firm building Sky City One says it will complete the tower, which will be 2,749 feet tall, in a mere 90 days. That's a clip of 30.5 feet, or nearly three stories, a day. The Empire State building, which rises about 1,250 feet, took 410 days to construct.

For its part, Fortune acknowledged it's skeptical about Sky City One being completed in only three months.

Back in Midtown Atlanta, SkyHouse is rising at a good clip, but it won't eclipse any records, and that's good thing. (Disclosure, Invest Atlanta, a Wilbert News Strategies client, played a role in the financing of SkyHouse Midtown, another good thing.)