8 Highly Anticipated Atlanta Developments Delivering In 2023

Next year in Metro Atlanta, developers plan to deliver more than 40M SF of industrial property, roughly 1.5M SF of new offices, nearly 500K SF of new retail space and thousands of new multifamily units.

After a year that started with a bang — construction starts totaled $4.2B in the first half, a 68% increase from the same period in 2021, according to Dodge Data & Analytics — construction activity has tailed off as inflation and interest rates make many new developments too risky.

But while the capital markets climate is paralyzing the industry today, the development already in motion is poised to bring even more change to the Atlanta region, with new movie studios, boutique offices, luxury apartments and sprawling data centers and warehouses opening their doors.

With assistance from data compiled by CBRE Atlanta, Avison Young and Haddow & Co., Bisnow presents the eight most anticipated commercial real estate deliveries for 2023.

Assembly Doraville

DEVELOPER: Gray TV 
SIZE: 1M SF-plus
USE: Film and TV soundstages, plus supporting office and retail
LOCATION: Doraville

After buying the unfinished Assembly site from Integral Group in 2021, GrayTV began in earnest, entirely self-financing construction of the first phase of content production campus located just off Interstate 285 at Motors Industrial Way.

Now the media company is on track to deliver $305M in 19 individual film stages and include offices, mill space, warehousing, a production base camp, dining space and private production bungalows as well as four backlots designed to mimic New York brownstones, the French Quarter in New Orleans, a European architectural-styled backlot, and a gritty, industrial backlot, complete with exposed fire escapes, that is dubbed Tribeca.

As icing on the cake, GrayTV struck a deal with NBCUniversal to produce and manage the stages at Assembly. It expects to open the first phase of the project over the summer.

Sora at Springs Quarter

DEVELOPER: Portman Residential
SIZE: 370 units
USE: Multifamily
LOCATION: Midtown

Portman Residential, the multifamily arm of Portman Holdings, expects to deliver the first piece of its Spring Quarter mixed-use project in August.

The 370-unit, high-end apartment tower at 1000 Spring St. is set to include a 29th-floor sky lounge, multiple fitness centers, golf simulators, coworking spaces, a spa and a pet room. Portman also plans to develop an infrared-heated pool, Urbanize reported.

Echo Street West

DEVELOPER: Lincoln Property Company Southeast
USE: Office, retail and multifamily 
SIZE: 275K SF 
LOCATION: Westside Atlanta

LPC Southeast is set to deliver its first urban mixed-use project in Atlanta next year. Echo Street West, at 765 Echo St., will debut 275K SF of creative office, 50K SF of retail, an apartment building with 292 units and 6.5 acres of outdoor space. 

LPC Southeast Executive Vice President Tony Bartlett said at a Bisnow event last week that the apartments, called Vibe at Echo Street West, started pre-leasing a few weeks ago and the building is expected to deliver by March.

The Junction Krog District

DEVELOPER: Portman Holdings  
SIZE: 136K SF
USE: Office
LOCATION: Old Fourth Ward

Portman Holdings is one of the few developers building offices on a speculative basis, this one along the BeltLine Eastside Trail in the Krog Street district.

The office building at 437 Memorial Drive is expected to deliver in March, Portman head of leasing Travis Garland told Bisnow. The landlord still hasn't signed a tenant, but, "we do have activity on the building, prospects that we're working on," Garland said.

Portman originally planned to develop a boutique hotel on the site, but pivoted in 2021 and broke ground in February, the Atlanta Business Chronicle previously reported. The building will also feature street-level retail, 11K SF of outdoor space and above-ground parking.

The Interlock, Phase 2

DEVELOPER: SJC Ventures
SIZE: 268K SF
USE: Grocery retail, student housing, office
LOCATION: West Midtown

After completing the initial phase of The Interlock in 2020, which includes 200K SF of office, 349 apartment units and the 161-room Bellyard hotel, SJC Ventures began planning for the $750M project’s second helping located at 1115 Howell Mill Road. 

SJC struck a deal with Publix Super Markets to occupy a 42,500 SF store at the bottom floor of a 670-bed student housing tower. The developer also is set to deliver 186K SF of office and 40K SF of retail in the project, which is expected to deliver in the fall.

Earlier this month, SJC announced that upscale hot pot chain The X Pot leased 16K SF in the second phase.

Garden Hills

DEVELOPER: Highwoods Properties and Brand Properties
SIZE: 135K SF
USE: Office
LOCATION: Buckhead

Highwoods and Brand Properties announced at the start of the year plans for a 135K SF boutique office building at 2827 Peachtree Road just south of the Buckhead Village. The new building replaces the Garden Hills Shopping Center, which was closed after a fire in 2013.

The $79M project is already 60% leased and is projected to deliver in September or October, according to CBRE. The tenants were undisclosed.

Gardner Logistics Park, Phase 3

DEVELOPER: Scannell Properties
SIZE: 1.4M SF
USE: Industrial 
LOCATION: Locust Grove

In what will be one of the busiest years for industrial deliveries in Atlanta's history, Scannell Properties’ Gardner Logistics Park is the largest of the bunch.

The speculative distribution center at 381 Davis Lake Road — the final piece of the six-building project spanning more than 4M SF — broke ground earlier this year without a tenant in tow.

But in November, with the help of Cushman & Wakefield, Scannell snagged a 1M SF lease with an unnamed logistics company, leaving the landlord to market just over 400K SF before its final delivery in late 2023. Scannell broke ground on Gardner's first building in 2018.

Facebook Data Center Phase 2

DEVELOPER: Meta Platforms, operating as Morning Hornet
SIZE: 1.5M SF 
USE: Data Center
LOCATION: Social Circle

In 2018, Facebook broke ground on a 1M SF data center in Newton County, 45 miles east of Downtown Atlanta, in a major economic development coup for the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Walton, Morgan and Newton counties. Two years later, the social media giant, now operating under a new parent company, announced plans to expand its data center there, adding an additional 1.5M SF totaling an investment of more than $1B and adding 200 local jobs. The center is expected to open in the first quarter, per CBRE.

Like much of the tech industry, Meta is facing economic headwinds that have led it to reduce headcount and benefits corporatewide. But so far, it — along with most of the other major technology companies — has yet to announce any major cuts in Metro Atlanta.