North American Properties is officially back in the Midtown real estate game. The firm, fresh from its mega-sale of Atlantic Station's retail village, has turned around and purchased Colony Square in a JV with Houston-based Lionstone Investments for $164.5M from Rialto Capital and Tishman Speyer. The 955,400 SF office tower (officially mixed-use given its 140k SF Colony Square Mall at street level), sold for $172/SF. NAP's first order of business? Open the mall to the air outside. The firm plans to take the roof off Colony Square's retail core to give it an “open-air experience,” officials state.
In an email, NAP's Mark Toro—not known for pulling punches when it comes to public comments—called Colony Square “sleepy and tired” while the Midtown neighborhood surrounding it flourished. “After a two-year renovation, we anticipate a July 2018 grand opening of the reimagined Colony Square,” Mark says. “We will engage with the city, with the street and with pedestrians, and it will fundamentally change the experience of living and working in Midtown.”
Like NAP did with Atlantic Station, Mark says the firm will be soliciting feedback from community residents, as well as urban planning experts, including Jeff Speck (here), who wrote the book Walkable City and Project for Public Spaces founder Fred Kent. And this month, NAP is partnering with Midtown Alliance to show holiday movies on an outdoor screen at the nearby Arts District Plaza.
