Jamestown Buying Atlanta Office Of North American Properties

The ship that Mark Toro built will soon be sailing under the Jamestown banner. 

Atlanta-based Jamestown announced Tuesday that it is under agreement to purchase the Atlanta office of North American Properties and take a stake in its portfolio of $2B of assets under management, including interest in Midtown’s Colony Square and The Forum Peachtree Corners, which North American is redeveloping.

Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but Jamestown said in a press release the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. 

The merger puts two mixed-use juggernauts under the same roof and enhances Jamestown’s "placemaking" abilities in suburban settings, Jamestown President Michael Phillips said in the release.

North American Managing Director Tim Perry, who will retain the title with Jamestown and also become Jamestown’s co-chief investment officer, said the idea of a possible merger developed between himself and Jamestown CEO Matt Bronfman in 2023 after more than a decade of friendship.

"I think we actually sat down, and we were maybe even talking about a specific deal, and look at each other, and I'm like, 'You know, we have another interesting idea,' and started talking about it," Perry told Bisnow. "If you had said when we first started that we were going to be able to find a like-minded or ... DNA-convicted placemaking partner located in Atlanta to join with and combine talent with, that would have been the dream. And that's what ends up happening."

Bronfman said the deal with North American does not affect Simon Property Group's 50% stake in Jamestown, which it acquired in 2022.

Jamestown, with more than $11B in assets under management, also captures North American’s management book, including the iconic Alpharetta mixed-use project Avalon, which was built by Toro while he was leading North American before he sold to PGIM in 2016.

Toro co-founded the Southeastern office of North American Properties in 1996 and gradually shifted the firm from a suburban retail and power center developer to one that repositioned iconic properties in the metro area into mixed-use destinations, including Atlantic Station’s retail portion, which was sold in 2015. Toro departed North American in 2021 to launch his own eponymous firm. 

Post-merger, Jamestown will absorb the more than 200 North American employees.

Bronfman told Bisnow that the firms see opportunities to continue developing or redeveloping suburban retail projects into mixed-use destinations with an emphasis on community programming across the U.S. He said that is what consumers, especially those who have experienced an urban lifestyle previously, are expecting in suburban areas.

"You've gone away to college, you've come back, you've lived behind the Ponce and you've enjoyed that lifestyle. As you start forming families, you, for a myriad of reasons, decided to move to the suburbs," Perry said. "But you bring that expectation with you of a great community, things to do outside, restaurants, better nail salons, whatever it is, than what your parents have. And so the market moves, and then retail moves and the retailers move with it."

Bronfman also said he sees Jamestown as contributing to North American's pipeline of developments by adding adjacent multifamily and hospitality projects, such as what Jamestown has done with Scout Living at Ponce City Market's second phase. 

"People are spending more time at home in their suburban community. And I think the opportunity to create these great suburban community centers with better restaurants, better walking, better engagement — it is an incredible opportunity," he said.