Towers Will Rise On Church Ground In Buckhead: The Atlanta Deal Sheet

Crescent Communities confirmed its plans for a prime 2.5-acre corner in Buckhead.

The developer announced Friday it is planning to develop a 21-story, 350K SF office building on land currently held by the Church at Wieuca and adjacent to Phipps Plaza and Lenox Mall. 

Crescent will also develop an apartment tower with 300 units on the site, according to a press release. The two-party project is dubbed 3600 Peachtree.

Bisnow first reported Crescent’s plans for the site after it filed a special administrative permit with the city of Atlanta last month. Church at Wieuca Lead Pastor Kevin Head confirmed the church had the site under contract with Crescent for an undisclosed sum.

“3600 Peachtree represents an opportunity to thoughtfully shape the next era of Buckhead,” Crescent Managing Director Sagar Rathie said in the release. 

The office project would include 10K SF of shared indoor amenities and a 19K SF outdoor terrace overlooking the skyline. Crescent, which is working with veteran Atlanta office developer Harvey Rudy, will also add a 200-attendee “spa-like wellness and fitness facility” and “multiple alternative work environments,” the company stated. 

Crescent tapped Partners Real Estate’s Aileen Almassy and Andy Sumlin to lease the office tower. 

This will be Crescent’s first new office development since it built the nearby Phipps Tower when the firm was going by Crescent Resources. During the tower’s 2009 construction, Crescent Resources fell into Chapter 11 bankruptcy while managing more than $1B in debt, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Phipps Tower was finally delivered in 2010, the same year Crescent reemerged from bankruptcy. Seven years later, Crescent rebranded itself as Crescent Communities and now has 26M SF of commercial space and more than 95 apartment communities, including Novel O4W, Novel West Midtown and Crescent Terminus. The latter is also in Buckhead.

DEVELOPMENT

Toro Development Co. is breaking ground on Overlook, a 301-unit apartment development at the Cumming City Center in Forsyth County.

Overlook will be part of the larger, 95-acre mixed-use project at the center and will feature a resort-style pool, fitness center and sky lounge, as well as micro-offices. 

Toro obtained a loan from Pinnacle Financial Partners for the project. Alabama-based EBSCO Real Estate is the equity partner.

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Bearings and industrial ballmaker Preciball USA will develop a $17.6M production facility at the Screven County Industrial Park, a planned project about 50 miles north of Savannah, Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Friday.

Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Dorie Bacon led incentive discussions on behalf of the state, according to the release. 

FINANCING

Chicago-based senior living operator Senior Lifestyle recapitalized The Sheridan at Eastside, a 214-unit facility in Snellville. It was one of two senior housing projects recapitalized. The other is in Northbrook, Illinois.

In the release, Senior Lifestyle stated it would continue operating The Sheridan at Eastside.

The firm offered no financial details on the transaction and did not name the capital partners in a press release.

But records with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority database show an LLC tied to Senior Lifestyle sold the facility in December to Boston-based Blue Moon Capital Partners for $50.4M. 

LEASES

Buckhead Life Restaurant Group’s famed steakhouse Chops Lobster Bar has inked a lease for a second Atlanta location at the upcoming Centennial Yards mixed-use project in Downtown Atlanta. 

Chops Lobster Bar Downtown will be located in a 13K SF space at the base of an unnamed hotel in the entertainment district, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. 

The fine dining restaurant is expected to open later this year. 

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Hisense leased 55K SF at 5995 Windward Parkway, a 379K SF office building in Alpharetta.

Colliers’ Deming Fish and Mark Maggard represented the landlord, a partnership between Grubb Properties, Trinity Capital Advisors and Nuveen. JLL’s Dom Wyant and Chris Wagner represented Hisense.

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Five Below inked a 9K SF lease for 10 years at North Griffin Square, a 237K SF shopping center off North Expressway in Griffin owned by Halpern Enterprises. The landlord also secured Ulta Beauty for 7,800 SF at the center. 

TSCG’s Jeff Kerker represented Five Below, and Atlantic Retail’s Shelley Jordan Bell represented Ulta.

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Third-party logistics operator Porter Logistics leased all of 195 Nordic Way, a 230K SF distribution facility in Pooler, a town 10 miles outside of Savannah in Chatham County. 

JLL’s Ryan Hoyt, Chris Tomasulo, Austin Kriz, Bennett Rudder and Lindsey Wilmot handled the transaction.

PERSONNEL

Hoar Construction appointed Kelly Burnette as its director of business development in Atlanta. Burnette most recently was with Floor & Decor’s commercial division.

SALES

Avistone obtained $9.8M in acquisition financing with Grant Street Funding for its purchase of Pike Center, a three-building, 97K SF distribution center off Old Norcross Road in Lawrenceville. JLL’s Wells Waller, Jack Britton and Gabriel Davenport arranged the financing for Avistone.

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New York-based Unicorn Graphics purchased 4365 River Green Parkway, a 46K SF office building in Duluth, from Asbury Automotive Group for $5.7M. Unicorn plans to transform the building into a “hybrid print production and office facility,” Newmark said in a press release.

Newmark’s Casey Keitchen and Collin BeVier brokered the sale on behalf of Asbury.