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Newport RE is getting started on an 18-story apartment tower that will rise above its vast street-level property empire in South Downtown Atlanta.
The German real estate investment firm filed an application last week with the city of Atlanta to begin groundwork on a 13-story apartment tower over a five-level parking garage, a big next step in its revitalization of South Downtown.
Newport Senior Vice President April Stammel told Bisnow the application is specifically for the 582K SF east tower, one of two apartment towers it is planning along Broad Street that will incorporate the existing historic buildings along Broad into the project.
“We think Mitchell and Broad will be a real destination for Atlanta in the coming years,” Newport Executive Vice President Kevin Murphy said.
Earlier this month, Newport purchased four more buildings and a parking lot along Mitchell Street for $3.87M, bringing the firm's total holdings in Downtown to 50 buildings and parcels, Murphy said.
Stammel said Newport is still evaluating the potential uses for the latest acquisition. She said the buildings would most likely be converted to ground-floor retail with loft office on the second level. The purchase gives Newport more holdings along Broad Street, which she says is a critical corridor for South Downtown.
“If you think about it, Broad Street is the connecting point to Five Points MARTA station to South Downtown. Broad Street becomes more and more important for walkability,” she said. “It’s sort of an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up.”
Last year, Newport redeveloped a string of historic buildings along Mitchell Street, between Ted Turner Drive and Forsyth Street, called Hotel Row that will serve as a collection of retail and creative office spaces and is expected to officially open later this year. Tenants planned for Hotel Row include a chicken eatery called How Crispy Express, Pizza Clementine and the headquarters for the lobbying firm Ohio River South.
Newport also secured $75M in debt financing with BridgeInvest to redevelop 222 Mitchell, a 1909 brick building that spans a full city block across the street from Hotel Row, into a 330K SF mixed-use campus that includes office and retail spaces. That project so far snagged leases with arcade and game bar Pins Mechanical and a rooftop bar and diner concept from Slater Hospitality. It is scheduled to open to tenants next year.
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