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Buckhead District Developments


ironchapman

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Lindbergh area is quickly becoming a great alternative to Midtown and "true" Buckhead. It's like you get the best of both areas while being in that fuzzy zone of "is this Buckhead or is this Midtown?" The Skyline's prices are very reasonable, the views are excellent on higher levels, accessibility is pretty good (especially considering that the Lindbergh MARTA station is a mere two blocks away) and there is a grocer right in the vicinity. This will be a win-win for the MCL Group as well as people who purchase there.

Edited by Lady Celeste
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Yes, the building has no tenants lined up so it is a speculative building. Many office buildings started in Atlanta and particularly the Buckhead and Perimeter Center submarkets have been spec. Prime example is the current addition to the Terminus complex. Terminus 100 could have been deemed spec but it filled up soon after steel started rising. There is also currently an addition being added to the Alliance Center complex. If I am not mistaken it too is speculative. Class A speculative towers are not all that unusual in some of Atlanta's submarkets.

There is a high absorption rate for Class A office space. There also tends to be cycle of lease expirations that tie into speculative office towers. Many companies with expiring leases simply fill up the new towers. The "older" towers are left to seek out smaller companies for tenants. That's why you have such a high vacancy rate in office space in Atlanta. Companies are expanding and growing but so are the office space options. It seems like the office towers grow faster than the companies at times.

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When you use the quotes around "spec", what are you implying? Is there a tenant that has yet to be announced?

I have not seen many spec offices being built recently. Is this the start of a trend? Is there a shortage of Class A space in Buckhead?

There's just some debate about whether these announcements of impending construction are just posturing or if even more office projects will actually go to construction without any tenant committments. As far as we know 3344, 3630, Two Alliance Center, 1075 Peachtree and Two Peachtree Point all started construction with no signed tenants.

I agree with Lady Celeste's explanation. In fact, I've read that something like 10-15 million sf of office leases will expire in the next three years. Coupled with that is the fact that metro wide vacancy rate is now in the teens I believe so we a definately in a up cycle for office construction. No Atlanta developer wants to be left out of that party.

Edited by Martinman
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I had an idea, more of a dream. How feasible is it to be able to connect the Streets of Buckhead with the Midtown Mile. Ben Carter could stretch his Streets of Buckhead along Peachtree south towards Midtown and the Midtown Mile could be stretch north towards Buckhead. That way by just making a step you could make a transition from the Streets of Buckhead, faux-paris architecture, more luxury boutiques like Chanel, Valentino, and Dior. To the Midtown Mile a more modern architecture, with more urban type of boutiques like Diesel, Rock&Republic and Custo Barcelona. I

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That would be a really cool concept, but the distance between Buckhead and Midtown is fairly long. Also, it would be harder to develop continuous blocks of retail frontage with all the churches and residential present on that stretch. There will definitely be pockets of mixed use though, such as The Aramore and The Brookwood developments.

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I had an idea, more of a dream. How feasible is it to be able to connect the Streets of Buckhead with the Midtown Mile. Ben Carter could stretch his Streets of Buckhead along Peachtree south towards Midtown and the Midtown Mile could be stretch north towards Buckhead. That way by just making a step you could make a transition from the Streets of Buckhead, faux-paris architecture, more luxury boutiques like Chanel, Valentino, and Dior. To the Midtown Mile a more modern architecture, with more urban type of boutiques like Diesel, Rock&Republic and Custo Barcelona. I'm not from Atlanta nor have I ever lived there so I don't know how realistic my vision is, but wouldn't it be cool. :dunno:

Actually, that is somewhat in the works with the Peachtree Corridor project (master and transit planning) as it encompasses both. Technically, there is too much in between the two projects (about 3 miles) to cover the whole stretch in unified architecture/retail, but the two will be connected in the grand scheme with streetscape/quality of life enhancements and a user-friendly streetcar.

The Peachtree Corridor concept was developed covering 14.5 miles stretching from Club Drive, well north of the Steets of Buckhead development to Ft. McPherson, well south of Downtown. The latest news was of a proposal for an initial phase I of the Peachtree Streetcar to be implemented in Midtown and Downtown, the reasoning being those segments are the most prepared for it. You can view detailed breakdowns on the Peachtree Corridor segments at the project website. For reference, SoB is located near the south end of Segment 1: Commercial Buckhead and Midtown Mile is located in (surprise!) Segment 4: Midtown.

Edited by j.midtown
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Yes, the building has no tenants lined up so it is a speculative building. Many office buildings started in Atlanta and particularly the Buckhead and Perimeter Center submarkets have been spec. Prime example is the current addition to the Terminus complex. Terminus 100 could have been deemed spec but it filled up soon after steel started rising. There is also currently an addition being added to the Alliance Center complex. If I am not mistaken it too is speculative. Class A speculative towers are not all that unusual in some of Atlanta's submarkets.

There is a high absorption rate for Class A office space. There also tends to be cycle of lease expirations that tie into speculative office towers. Many companies with expiring leases simply fill up the new towers. The "older" towers are left to seek out smaller companies for tenants. That's why you have such a high vacancy rate in office space in Atlanta. Companies are expanding and growing but so are the office space options. It seems like the office towers grow faster than the companies at times.

That's correct Lady Ceseste, speculative ventures include Terminus 200, Two Alliance Center, and now the just announced 500,00 sq. feet, 20-story Phipps Tower.

Here is the article about the Phipps Tower, and thank God they are going to fill up that empty space in the back, and the parking decks will be expanded and wrap around the corner of Phipps Boulevard and Lenox Rd., but unfortunatley the department store that is closest to the office tower to enter is that crappy Belk, that DID NOT fulfill its promise as a flagship store, but the closest mall entrance is at Monarch Court and oh well that's a whole entire post to talk about Belk, so back to the Phipps Tower>

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories...4285&page=1

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  • 3 weeks later...

There is now a webcam for Streets of Buckhead. Webcam

The proposed Buckhead Hilton has a new (much maligned) rendering. The building is shorter than the original 40-story proposal with more hotel rooms and fewer condos. The developers say construction could start as soon as October.

buckhead_hilton.jpg

That's cool. I work in the Capital Grille building so I get to see everything all day long.

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While in Atlanta a few weeks ago on business I was blown away by all the new towers under construction in Buckhead. Atlanta has had a long history of constructing beautiful office towers and several nice condos but 5 or 6 years ago there seemed to be a move toward cheap cookie cutter condo towers. FWIW, I really liked Novare and Wood Partners first project, Metropolis and I even thought Eclipse in Buckhead was kind of cool and unique in it's own way. But Spire, Realm and all the copycat Twelve projects are really not very attractive to me. Similar versions of these towers (some almost indistinguishable from Spire) have now popped up all over the southeast. Personally, I hope this fad of architecture has run its course so we can ge back to towers being designed more thoughtfully relative to their surroundings. Again, Buckhead seems to be well on it's way with Mansion and some of the others now being built. I am curious though how sales in these ultra luxury towers are holding up under what has become a tough housing market. Can anyone shed some light or direct me to an article or publication that has summarized all this ?

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There was a series of good articles in the WSJ today under the Property Report section. One titled "Buckhead Bust" predicts that this submarket may have 2 years of condo inventory to absorb and possibly a multiple of that in the class a office market when the towers underway are completed.

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I think Buckhead will be fine. The Streets of Buckhead, the streetscape projects, and the other developments will only make Buckhead even more attractive to visitors. Atlanta, because of its location, amenities, and weather will continue to be a desirable place for people to move to. We might not add 900,000 people in the next 6 years like we did from 2000 - 2006, but we will still grow rapidly and I think Buckhead will continue to thrive.

The only thing that is lacking is a safe, fun nightlife district...

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Yeah at least we aren't like Miami, looking at half-built condos dotting the landscapes, going unfinished because they were built on speculation.

Is that actually happening? Its been a year or two since I was in the city of proper.

Buckhead is probably overbuilt (or will be) but the word "bust" just sounds a bit too dire for that market.

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I have to agree with the two gentlemen above me. As a long time Atlanta area resident, I have seen many cycles come and go. Buckhead has always been a build-it-and-they-will-come submarket. What's remarkable is that they do come. The Alliance Center and the building with MARSH on the top were built at the same time. The builders were told that they were crazy because absorption rates were showing over saturation. Today these buildings are profitable leased buildings. The Alliance Center is now adding another tower.

If you look at the ages of the buildings there, one would see cycles. Groups of two to four+ buildings will all be within years of each other. Builders are bullish on Buckhead and have always been so. Charlotte based Crescent is so bullish on Buckhead that they will more than likely go ahead with their Phipps Plaza tower. Most developers want to have product already available for the next up tick. If you wait too long you might miss it all together. With the continue improvements to infrastructure, accessibility to public transportation and growing destination retail, Buckhead is properly positioned.

On the condo scene, I think that Buckhead is no different than 99.99% of condo markets across the nation. Buckhead is a different creature only because the target market usually can obtain and afford a conventional fixed mortgage on a property with relative ease. As a realtor, I have seen overly qualified buyers spooked by the news on the real estate market. It

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