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This Week's Atlanta Deal Sheet: TPA Group Plans Massive Newton County Data Center Complex

Stop us if you've heard this one before: A developer has applied to the state to develop a gargantuan data center complex outside Atlanta. 

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This time it’s Atlanta-based TPA Group, which plans to erect a $5B, nine-building data center campus in Newton County called the Newton County Technology Park, according to an application with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which evaluates developments expected to have an impact on local infrastructure.

TPA is seeking approval to develop almost 2.6M SF on 317 acres just outside of Social Circle in a wooded area northeast of the intersection of Interstate 20 and State Route 11.

TPA is a prolific office and industrial developer and investor across the U.S., having outlaid more than $2B in nearly 30M SF of real estate since 2015, according to the company's website. In 2023, TPA sold nearly 55 acres of the former Westside CSX railyard site called Tilford Yards for $91M to the parent company of data center developer Edged Energy.

TPA didn't return calls seeking comment.

The firm estimates that the project, which is near Meta’s data center campus and the site of the electric vehicle plant Rivian is building with $6.6B in federal funding, will add $7M annually to local tax coffers, according to the application. 

Metro Atlanta’s data center inventory is set to more than double based on its construction pipeline, with overall inventory up 118% since 2020. The deluge of new projects means Metro Atlanta is on track to become the second-largest data center market in the U.S., according to CBRE. 

DEVELOPMENT

Arizona-based DMB Development is proposing an 8,300-plus-unit mixed-use project called Bouckaert Farms at 9445 Browns Lake Road in Chattahoochee Hills, near South Fulton, according to a development of regional impact application with the state

Besides the residential units, the developer is seeking approval to build office, restaurant, retail, institutional and service uses, according to the application. The project is slated to fully deliver by 2055.

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Central Coweta Industrial LLC filed to develop a 1.1M SF distribution center and a 34K SF office on a site sandwiched between Interstate 85 and Highway 29 just north of Newnan, according to a DRI filed with the state. The project is set to deliver in 2030.

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Alpharetta-based Horizon Hospitality Management is planning two 12-story hotels in Downtown Atlanta near Emory University Midtown Hospital, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The hotels at West Peachtree Street and Baltimore Place would add 400 rooms to the market. 

The ABC reported that Hilton Worldwide’s Motto brand would operate one hotel, while Marriott International’s extended-stay brand TownePlace Suites would flag the other.

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The Bixby Student Housing complex near Kennesaw State University

SALES

Alden Street Capital sold Bixby Student Housing, a 656-bed student housing community at 3061 George Busbee Parkway near Kennesaw State University. 

KSU’s foundation, operating as KSU Bixby Real Estate Foundation LLC, purchased the 176-unit property in December for $99M, according to real estate tracking firm Databank. Cobb County appraised the project at $72.2M in 2024. Bixby has a 98% occupancy rate for the 2024-2025 school year.

JLL’s Teddy Leatherman, Scott Clifton, Kevin Kazlow and Jack Goldberger brokered the sale.  

ASSIGNMENTS

Cushman & Wakefield’s Lisa Pittman, Helen Cauthen, James Phillpott and Connor Larkin have been tapped by Granite REIT to lease the remaining empty space at 3090 Highway 42, a 1M SF distribution building in Locust Grove. The building is 75% leased, with 251K SF being marketed to tenants. 

PERSONNEL 

Partners Real Estate has tapped Matt Hawkins, Pierce Owings and Sarah Morgan for its land sales practice in Atlanta. The trio join partners from Cushman & Wakefield. Hawkins was responsible for brokering the land sale for what ultimately became The Battery at Truist Park. 

He and Owings have been named equity partners, while Morgan is a senior associate.

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Timothy Dick joined the lodging research, advisory and valuation firm Woodworth Core Group as its executive vice president of the Atlanta office. Prior to Woodworth, Dick was an executive vice president with CBRE’s hotel advisory national practice. 

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Andy Stormont and Clayton Randle have launched Ripple Hospitality Partners, an Atlanta-based hotel investment and development firm. Stonemont previously worked for High Street Real Estate Partners, according to his LinkedIn profile, while Randle was the founder of the development firm Quiwa Holdings.

The duo have executed transactions in excess of $4B during their careers.

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Rental housing developer Middleburg Communities has tapped Sean Rosko as its development partner for the Metro Atlanta region to target the area as a key growth market. Rosko previously worked with South City Partners as vice president of development, overseeing the delivery of more than 3,000 apartment units and 2,000 student housing beds in the Southeast.