Highwoods Taps Colliers Executive To Lead Atlanta Office

Heather Lamb, who helped to double the portfolio size of Colliers Atlanta's office services group in three years, is taking over the local leadership role for Highwoods Properties.

Highwoods named Lamb the firm’s new senior vice president and Atlanta market leader, replacing Jim Bacchetta after his 18-year run with the company, it announced Friday. Bacchetta announced his retirement is set for July. 

In her new role, Lamb will be taking over the leasing and marketing for Highwoods’ nearly 5M SF office portfolio in Metro Atlanta, which includes such assets as One and Two Alliance Center and Monarch Tower and Monarch Plaza in Buckhead.

“One of the things that attracted me most to Highwoods … is that they own trophy assets in the best locations,” Lamb told Bisnow. “If you are an office owner, that is what you want to own.”

The Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported the leadership change.

Lamb, a 20-year industry vet, will join Highwoods from Colliers, where she was tapped in 2020 to become the co-market leader for the Atlanta office’s landlord services group. While there, Lamb helped lease more than 2M SF and generated more than $700M in revenues, according to a press release. Previously, Lamb worked with CBRE Atlanta. 

Bacchetta said in an interview he felt it was the right moment to leave Highwoods to spend more time with his family.

"I'm going to be 66 this summer," Bacchetta said. "It's just about that time to hang it up."

Lamb is stepping into the role as landlords are increasingly feeling the pressure of downsizing tenants from permanent hybrid work policies and mounting corporate layoffs. That has corporate tenants increasingly gravitating to the best-located office buildings that can offer their employees an “experiential office environment” through amenities and programming, Lamb said. 

“You've got to create amenities that differentiate yourself from your competitors, and [Highwoods is] the best in class at doing that,” she said. 

Despite a slowdown in office activity overall, Atlanta proved to be Highwoods' second-most-active leasing market during the first quarter with 81K SF in deals signed, Chief Operating Officer Brian Leary said during an April 26 earnings call.

Highwoods isn't without holes, and more potential holes, to fill. The firm is marketing 169K SF at Two Alliance Center vacated by Novelis, which moved its headquarters to One Phipps Plaza at the start of the year.

Highwoods is also facing the drastic downsizing of the Georgia Department of Revenue at 1800 Century Blvd. The state issued a request for proposals earlier this year to downsize its space from 250K SF to 97K SF, including the possibility of leaving the suburban Atlanta tower altogether. Highwoods is mulling the possibility of converting the 290K SF building off Interstate 85 into a multifamily tower. 

Lamb said her work with a variety of office landlords over the years will help her apply lessons learned to Highwoods' portfolio in its attempts to backfill these spaces. 

“I do have the lens of having worked on behalf of dozens of ownership groups with different mindsets,” she said. “Hopefully I can bring some of that to the table for Highwoods.”