News
WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?
May 25, 2011
| Central Perimeter office tenants deal with four governments— Dekalb and Fulton counties and the cities if Sandy Springs and Dunwoody—and another could be entering the fray. Just how friendly are their welcome wagons? | |||
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| This morning at Bisnow's ?Future of Central Perimeter? event at The Retreat at Perimeter Summit, Dale Hughes of Cox Enterprise, the submarket's largest corporate citizen, told an audience of 400 that Brookhaven, which bleeds into the Central Perimeter, has its sights set on city-dom, too. His firm worked out occupational business tax issues with Sandy Springs related to its Central Park campus (including the two new buildings under way). Without the resolution, it would have been easier for the giant to move out of Sandy Springs for cheaper taxes. Meanwhile, Ackerman & Co president Kris Miller points out that Sandy Springs and Dunwoody were incorporated through the vote of local homeowners. ?It's not clear yet if those governments are going to be friendly to business or indifferent.? | |||
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| PM Realty's Bill Weghorst, Hines' John Heagy, Rubenstein Partners' David Canaday, and the Perimeter Community Improvement District's Yvonne Williams also joined our panel. The occupational tax issue also reared its head back in September with AFC Enterprises (you might know it better as your guilty pleasure: Popeyes). AFC told us it, too, could move from Sandy Springs if it doesn't back off on taxing revenue generated outside city limits. | |||
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| Yvonne (with our sponsor Piedmont Landscape's Ryan Cameron) called the Central Perimeter a ?model urban center,? connected by major arteries and three MARTA stations. ?We're moving from suburban to urban,? she says, noting that the area is home to 5,000 companies with $3.4B in corporate real estate value (providing $300M a year in state tax revenues). She also touted the Ashford-Dunwoody Road diamond interchange (the first ever designed in Georgia) coming in 2014 and expected to improve traffic flow at the I-285 intersection. Kris also hailed the PCID's use of police officers to handle rush hour traffic at major Central Perimeter intersections. ?It's sad (that the extra help is necessary), but it appears we need a kindergarten teacher.? | |||
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| John says office leasing has certainly picked up. ?We've seen a distinct turn in the market. We have absolutely hit bottom.? He and others say tenants realize the window to historically low lease rates is finally closing, and companies are motivated to make deals. Some of the big names floating around the market: Rock-Tenn, Elekta, TravelPort, and Ace Insurance. And more tenants are looking for LEED buildings. ?There seems to be a bullseye on Atlanta? since it's perceived as one of the nation's sustainability leaders, John says. ?Even if you're an older building, if you're not demonstrating some commitment to sustainability, it's going to hurt you.? | |||
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| We also snapped Bona Allen, who actually won't be with NYLO Hotels much longer. He tells us it's planning to move its HQ from 3,500 SF in Downtown Atlanta's 260 Peachtree to Dallas to be closer to its properties there. NYLO actually doesn't operate any hotels here, and Bona doesn't want to move to Texas. Be sure to checkBisnow next week for more coverage of our Central Perimeter event. |
