Weather's Warm Front Headed To Crown Project?

Gold Kist may go corporate after all.

244 Perimeter Center Pkwy Dunwoody
Photo credit: City of Dunwoody

Numerous sources say that Crown Holdings Corp—owner of the former Gold Kist HQ site in Central Perimeter—is in talks with IBM to house its recently acquired Weather.com operations there. The deal comes on the heels of Crown removing redevelopment plans for the entire property from the City of Dunwoody rezoning consideration.

As we previously reported, Crown's Charles Brown told us the owners were considering a sale of the property or an offer from "a very good prospect" to occupy the office building. It's unclear if this is the same tenant. Sources say Weather.com could take up to 140k SF there.

As we also previously reported, Scotland Wright & Associates namesake Scotland Wright, in a JV representation with CBRE, hit Central Perimeter with the RFP of up to 150k SF that would house the digital platform for The Weather Channel, purchased by IBM earlier this year. The deal would mean The Weather Co would leave The Weather Channel's longtime Cobb County home at 300 Interstate North Pkwy (above), where in 2014 it was in talks with Cobb County for tax incentives to stay put.

Blair Schlossberg
Photo credit: Bisnow

While declining comment on Weather.com, Crown's Blair Schlossberg (here) does say the firm plans to invest "tens of millions" of dollars into the 262k SF former Gold Kist HQ to turn the tired building into a Class-A office.

Blair says the rental trajectory of office buildings in Central Perimeter has risen to the point where the investment makes sense. At the eleventh hour this past May, Crown withdrew a rezoning request with the Dunwoody City Council after a dispute erupted over just how many of the originally planned 380 housing units would be for-sale versus rental.

The bet on going heavy condo—where only 10% of the apartment units would have remained for-rent within five years of delivery—was just too chancy for Crown and its financial backers. Crown could also build some 2.5M SF of office on the property under current zoning.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Atlanta Newsletters
Related Stories

JVP Development Is Betting $37M Of Its Own Money That Frisco Is Ready For Spec Office

Hedge Fund Bids $88M For Spirit Airlines' Former HQ

Emory Takes Over Proton Center For $82M: The Atlanta Deal Sheet

Oyster Point's Second Phase Half-Leased As Kilroy Navigates Soft Lab Demand

Dewberry's Midtown Eyesore Quietly Resolves $75M Mortgage

BXP Closes In On Next D.C. Office Development As It Shrinks Assets

Clarion Under Contract To Sell 18-Story Seaport Office Tower

Oil Company Expands Again At Cash Register Building

BXP's 343 Madison Lands $1.2B Loan, Nears Deal With Equity Partner

D.C. Sues To Block HUD Headquarters Move To Virginia

Ken Griffin Completes Takeover Of Brickell Block, Setting Stage For $2.5B Megaproject

Private Equity Firm Buys Former Texas Instruments Campus For New Headquarters