It's the Central Perimeter's darling for leasing, but Dunwoody has concerns. Namely, keeping businesses within the municipal's borders instead of being lured into the city. (How do you keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Peachtree?)
As part of this week's focus on the Central Perimeter, we met with City of Dunwoody economic development guru
Michael Starling. He tells us office space in Dunwoody has nearly
run out: "Two words:
State Farm. It's changed everything." At the height of the recession, Dunwoody saw
35% of its office space vacant— even more than the general Central Perimeter submarket. But the string of mega State Farm deals turned that into
17%. That's also being reflected in Central Perimeter, where big blocks of office space are
running out. (If your boss tells you to please work from home, don't take it too personally.)
With that in mind, Michael wants to make sure as many of the
2,400 Dunwoody-based businesses stay put—everyone from giants like Intercontinental Hotel Group (which is scouting for options) to the moms-and-pops. No longer is it a recruitment game. Almost all companies are expanding or thinking of expanding, he says. But there is a
Sword of Damocles hanging over the city. As great as State Farm is, most experts say the insurance giant plans to develop a
massive campus connected to Hammond Exchange (above).
State Farm just acquired the former Rubenstein site (home to
Chequers) in Dunwoody in an effort to amass land. And many of its leases—especially at the Terraces, above—are secured for five years. When that's up—assuming the company has new buildings completed—there will be a
deluge of space in Dunwoody again. If the economy is strong in five years, that could be a good thing. But in the near term, Michael says the prospect of empty space again may actually
keep some developers at bay. (Everybody fears putting in the work when the old boyfriend may return to woo.)
