An Atlanta investment firm better known for its retail and self-storage holdings has just bought one of Sandy Springs' oldest office towers.

Stein Investment Group has purchased Northside Tower, the nine-story, 122k SF office building that lords over Roswell Road as the tallest structure in that main artery. Stein purchased it for $13M, or some $107/SF, from Maryland-based Alex Brown Realty.

In turn, the small-firm-dominated tower—now some 95% leased—will undergo a $2M renovation with façade, pedestrian and traffic flow improvements, Stein CEO Jeff Stein tells us.

"We see Northside Tower as one of the most underutilized properties along Sandy Springs' primary commercial corridor," says Jeff (here on left bashing the head of his cohort Jason Linscott while partner Adam Sauer backs him up). "It's in the heart of more than $400M of commercial development currently changing the face, perception and energy of this Sandy Springs core," including the $200M City Springs mixed-use complex underway across the street.

Stein also purchased East Cobb Office Complex, a five-building, 60k SF complex off Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta from Alex Brown for $5M this past summer. There, the firm is planning a $1M renovation campaign to spruce up a property that is historically popular with medical users, given its nearly next door to Northside Hospital's 100k SF East Cobb Medical Center expansion.

That property is 80% leased with tenants Atlanta Falcons Physical Therapy Centers, Allstate Insurance and Sheffrin Men's Health.