Highwoods Properties is cashing in on a 12-year-old Atlanta office property it built for a federal agency.

The office REIT, one of the biggest landlords in Metro Atlanta, sold 107 Charles W. Grant Parkway in Atlanta near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for $30.7M to an undisclosed buyer. Highwoods developed the 100K SF office building in 2009 as a build-to-suit for the Federal Aviation Administration for $18M.

The FAA signed a renewal at the property last year, Highwoods Executive Vice President Brian Leary told analysts during a third-quarter earnings call. As a result of the sale, Highwoods expects to clock a gain of nearly $19M on the sale, according to the REIT's annual report.

Atlanta, where Highwoods owns 5.4M SF, is among the Southeast markets where its executives are seeing a surge in inbound tenant activity from other U.S. states.

“Across the board and specifically in Tampa, Raleigh, Nashville and Atlanta, tours are up. New requests for proposals have come in, and we are seeing inbound interest from out-of-town prospects, looking to grow or relocate to our markets,” Leary said on the call. “To this end, 25% of new deals in the quarter are new to market, coming from the West Coast, Midwest and the Northeast.”