7 Of The Most-Anticipated Atlanta Projects Opening In 2019

For the developers who put shovels to dirt in 2017, their visions of millions of square feet of office, or apartments or retail and mixed-use throughout Metro Atlanta are now coming to fruition.

The reigning submarket, though, remains Midtown Atlanta where more than 1.3M SF of office is underway and another 30-plus projects are either underway or planned for the next few years.

That focus on the Midtown submarket is certainly evident in Bisnow's list of seven of the most anticipated project deliveries of 2019.

1) Coda 

• Type: Office
• Size: 760K SF
• Delivery Date: February
• Submarket: Midtown

Coda could be described as ground zero for Georgia Tech's infiltration into Midtown. Ever since the university announced with developer Portman Holdings that it planned to occupy half of what is described as a high-performance computing tower, Midtown has become the hottest market for office development.

The $375M tower is the crown jewel in what has become a high-tech corridor in Atlanta, complete with a major data center. Since then, ThyssenKrupp and WeWork announced plans to occupy space at the tower. The tower has spawned two neighboring projects, including the IT operations center for Anthem Healthcare.

2) 725 Ponce

• Type: Mixed-Use
• Size: 371K SF
• Delivery Date: Mid-Summer
• Submarket: Midtown

Taking cues from the success of neighboring Ponce City Market, one of the pioneers of that project, Jim Irwin, struck out on his own and purchased the popular Kroger shopping center across the street.

That Kroger — known affectionately as Murder Kroger by locals due to incidents of crimes that had taken place on the property — was targeted by Irwin's company, New City, to become a mixed-use destination with a high-rise office tower topping the grocery store.

The project is located right along the Atlanta BeltLine, and is designed so the new Kroger's entrance will spill directly onto the popular urban pedestrian path. While no tenants have been announced for the office as of press time, numerous reports indicate 725 Ponce is being considered by Starbucks for its regional operations.

3) Serta Simmons

• Type: Office
• Size: 210K SF
• Delivery Date: Spring
• Submarket: Doraville

First came the movie studio. Then, in 2017, bedding manufacturer Serta Simmons announced that it would locate its headquarters at The Assembly mixed-use project.

The bedding maker is one of the pioneers inside the redevelopment of the former General Motors plant lording over Interstate 285. Although the developer for the overall $2B Assembly project is Integral Group, Serta's five-story headquarters is being developed by Holder Properties and includes 140K SF of office and a 70K SF showroom and warehouse.

Serta, which also manufactuers the Beautyrest brand, plans to house 500 of its employees there.

“Assembly was chosen because it is the center of gravity for the current employee population,” JLL Managing Director Dom Wyant told the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

4) Ascent Midtown

• Type: Multifamily
• Size: 328 units
• Delivery Date: April
• Submarket: Midtown

Greystar is developing one of a new breed of luxury high-rise apartment towers, Ascent Midtown, which began construction in 2016 as part of a larger mixed-use project with a neighboring hotel. Early on, the developer snagged an operating agreement with Hilton to open Atlanta's first-ever Canopy brand at the corner of West Peachtree and 18th streets.

Canopy by Hilton opened late last year. Fast approaching completion, Ascent is already open to tours of its units, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms and at asking rents surpassing $3K/month in some cases.

5) Vireo 

• Type: Multifamily
• Size: 310 units
• Delivery Date: Spring
• Submarket: Midtown

Lennar's multifamily division jumped into the heart of Midtown Atlanta in 2017 when it began construction of this luxury apartment tower at 195 13th St. The 26-story Vireo is located close to the intersection of Juniper Street.

Lennar received incentives from the city of Atlanta for the $105M project, but in exchange it is reserving 10% of its units, or 32 apartments, as affordable. Vireo also will feature a resort-style rooftop pool with Midtown skyline views.

6) T3 West Midtown

• Type: Office
• Size: 230K SF
• Delivery Date: September
• Submarket: Midtown/Atlantic Station

In the race for the next office tower in Midtown, Hines jumped ahead of the pack by going forward without any tenants committing to its space. But perhaps more noteworthy, T3 is also Atlanta's first timber-framed office building, being developed in Atlantic Station's busy environs.

While it is being developed on spec, offices in Midtown have had a healthy success in this real estate cycle, with companies clamoring to be close to Georgia Tech and its talent pool. Hines Senior Managing Director John Heagy previously told Bisnow that the firm was in talks with WeWork to occupy space in the new building. Company officials say they have not achieved pre-leasing with any tenants as of press time. 

7) 10000 Avalon

• Type: Office
• Size: 250K SF
• Delivery Date: December
• Submarket: North Fulton

After the banner pre-leasing success with its sister 8000 Avalon office building with Microsoft, developers Hines and Cousins Properties soon after broke ground on a second office building, this time one story taller. 

Since then, the 10-story building situated in the Avalon mixed-use project in Alpharetta secured two pre-leases: a 76K SF deal with AXIS Capital Holdings and a 25K SF lease with Kahua Inc.

Hines' Heagy said there is a lot of interest in the rest of the building as well. 

"That's certainly our goal this year, to have it completely leased at the time of delivery," he said.