Atlanta BeltLine Buys Old Fourth Ward Office Building In Bid To Preserve Affordability
Atlanta BeltLine Inc. has secured an Old Fourth Ward boutique building in an effort to preserve affordable office rents in the hot East Midtown submarket.
The organization, which is spearheading the development of a 22-mile pedestrian loop around Atlanta, paid $16.5M for 746 Willoughby Way NE — a 60K SF office building about a mile south of Ponce City Market and next to the Historic Old Fourth Ward Park.
The seller was San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital, according to a sales tax record filed with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority database. Stockbridge paid $23.8M in 2019 for the property, which was developed just two years earlier by Tecton Builders and Cross-Town Realty.
BeltLine CEO Clyde Higgs confirmed the purchase to Bisnow in an emailed statement, adding that it “represents a unique market opportunity to preserve an important source of commercial affordability in one of Atlanta’s most competitive and rapidly evolving corridors.”
“As office rents in the immediate Eastside Trail and Old Fourth Ward submarket continue to command premium rates, The Willoughby offers commercial space at rates significantly below prevailing market levels,” Higgs said.
Stockbridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fulton County valued 746 Willoughby at $11.9M last year, down from $12.9M in 2022, according to county records.
The Willoughby was the affordable office option in the Old Fourth Ward area for some time, with asking rents at $38.50 per SF triple net, said Jeff Pollock, founder and principal of Pollock Commercial, who had been leasing the building prior to the sale. Its nearest competitors — Ponce City Market and New City’s Fourth Ward Offices project — are quoting rents in excess of $50 per SF for office space.
“We were $15 cheaper than our closest competitor,” Pollock said. “It’s just got good value for office space.”
The building’s largest tenant is advertising group Dagger Agency, which occupies all of the first floor, Pollock said. The creative office property includes free parking and a 3,800 SF rooftop amenity space for tenants, according to a marketing brochure online.
When Stockbridge acquired The Willoughby, the property was fully leased. But since then, it has lost half of its tenants, Pollock said.
T. Dallas Smith & Co. Chief Operating Officer Dexter Warrior brokered the sale, according to BeltLine. The existing tenants will remain with the property as part of the transaction. Higgs said the deal opens the door for the organization to potentially move or at least occupy portions of The Willoughby away from its current home at 100 Peachtree in Downtown Atlanta.
“While Atlanta Beltline, Inc. may occupy a portion of the building in the future, our primary objective is to preserve a valuable source of commercial affordability and support the continued success of businesses operating within the corridor,” Higgs said.
