Could Atlanta's tallest skyscraper and the poster child for the Great Recession's impact on commercial real estate be headed to the sales block?
Special Servicer for the Bank of America Tower has targeted the 1.2M SF tower for disposition, according to TREPP. In a recent TREPP report focused on Bank of America Tower's CMBS loan status, CWCapital “projects a disposition to occur in the second half of 2015.” That said, officials with CWCapital and CBRE—recently tapped to lease the 50% occupied tower—did not return calls seeking comment. And it's unclear whether Bank of America Tower is officially being marketed for sale at this time. But most recently, CWCapital did change up its leasing efforts by tapping CBRE, and is focused on attempting to attract tech companies attracted to the Midtown environs, as TREPP notes in its report: “The Midtown submarket has experienced positive news with Worldpay and NCR relocating from suburban markets. Additionally, Emory University's new cancer proton center is being developed across the street from the property.”
Bank of America Plaza fell back to lenders (our video of the courthouse step auction above) in 2012 as creditors foreclosed on a $235M note that was substantially less than the $400M-plus BentlyForbes paid for it in 2006. According to TREPP documents, the tower still has two CMBS loans tied to it: a $263M loan and a $100M loan, both maturing in October of next year. The tower is half leased to such firms as Troutman Sanders LLP for 332k SF, Bank of America, which still occupies 183k SF, and Frazier Deeter for 53k SF.
