Buckhead office landlords may be seeing healthy rent gains soon. (Factor that into your holiday present and cookie budget.)
That's the assessment of this morning's panel from our third annual Future of Buckhead event, which drew more than 200 to Buckhead Tower. Highwoods Properties' Jim Bacchetta (here schmoozing with Cresa's Kevin Creel) offered the main reason why rents will go up:Land. Or lack thereof. (Are you in Buckhead right now? Look down. That land's not available.) "I think that's going to change. We can only identify a handful of good sites in Buckhead," Jim says.Jim was part of an all-star Buckhead lineup: Cousins Properties'Colin Connolly, JLL's Brad Armstrong, CohnReznick's Michael Hartman, Trowbridge Partners' David Smith (our moderator), Parmenter Realty's John Davidson, and PM Realty Group's Bill Weghorst. (Not a weak tie to be found among them.) John says investors are giving Atlanta a strong look again. "I think folks are coming back into the city that weren't here a year or two ago." And with no development in the near term and absorption positive, "I think people start buying into rent growth."
Colin says investors are a "fickle group," but that Atlanta is no longer on the money's bad list. (Money can be so judgmental.) "Atlanta today is starting to look incredibly attractive," he says. Colin also was much warmer on Atlanta than previous tones that have come from company execs (who have been very focused on the Texas market). "We're as bullish about Atlanta as we have been in a long time," he says, especially the Midtown, Central Perimeter, and Buckhead markets. And after Cousins sees "meaningful" jumps in rent, the company could consider buying or even developing here again. "We're actively looking for those opportunities a few years out." Stay tuned for more coverage from the event.
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