A prominent property in Midtown has traded hands for one of the highest prices ever paid for retail property in Metro Atlanta.

Ardent Cos. sold the 44,300 SF retail portion of 1010 Midtown to Tampa-based East Coast Acquisitions for $38M, or nearly $858 per SF, according to JLL, which brokered the transaction.

At nearly $860 per SF, 1010 Midtown is the most valuable retail trade in Midtown Atlanta history, and it approached Metro Atlanta's all-time per SF for retail: the Barrett Pavilion power center in Kennesaw, which traded for $907 per SF in 2003, according to data provided by Colliers Atlanta.

According to Marcus & Millichap's latest Metro Atlanta retail report, the average price for multi-tenant retail properties was $251 per SF as of the third quarter of 2021.

Developers Daniel Corp. and Selig Properties delivered 1010 Midtown's street-level retail beneath the towering residential condominium in 2008. The property, bounded by 11th, 12th and Peachtree streets and Crescent Avenue next to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, is home to such tenants as the Sugar Factory, RA Sushi Bar, Piedmont Healthcare, Panera Bread, Chipotle and Sage Dental.

Ardent purchased the property in 2013 from Daniel and Selig for $15M.  JLL Managing Director Brad Buchanan, Senior Managing Director Jim Hamilton and associate Andrew Kahn brokered the sale for Ardent.

The sale is the biggest price a single Midtown area retail property has traded for since Westside Provisions sold in 2016 for $60M to Jamestown, according to Colliers. That sales price excluded the multifamily and industrial components at Westside Provisions, Colliers Director of Research Scott Amoson said.

Midtown has exploded in this past real estate cycle, with companies and Big Tech flocking to the submarket, including Google, NCR and Norfolk Southern. Luxury apartments that have developed alongside have attracted high-credit retailers and buyers looking for a bright spot in urban retail.

“1010 Midtown is a rare, generational asset located in the heart of Midtown, Atlanta's urban core and one of the fastest-growing submarkets in the Southeast,” Buchanan said in a press release.