This Week's Atlanta Deal Sheet: AFC Losing Major Law Firm Tenant
One of Atlanta’s 10 largest law firms is moving from its longtime and embattled Buckhead home.
Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP inked a 100K SF lease at Two Alliance Center, the 30-story tower owned by Highwoods Properties in Buckhead, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The deal means the firm, ranked the city’s sixth largest by the paper, will leave the Atlanta Financial Center, where it has been since 1987.
Morris, Manning & Martin, home to 280 attorneys, will also get signage on the 492K SF tower where it is taking four floors, downsizing from its 130K SF footprint at Atlanta Financial Center.
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas' $112.5M loan for the 900K SF Atlanta Financial Center is up for sale with Cushman & Wakefield and may trade at a steep discount, especially with Truist Securities also planning to leave, the ABC reported.
The office complex has been a center point in a scandal involving the crowdfunding platform CrowdStreet ever since Nightingale Properties CEO Elie Schwartz was accused of absconding with investor dollars instead of buying the property after Nightingale began raising money in 2022.
LEASES
IT firm Meridian Cooperative inked 52K SF at Three Ravinia Drive for its Atlanta headquarters and will relocate from 100 Ashford Center North, also in Central Perimeter. The company plans to locate its 250-member headquarters staff at the 31-story, 817K SF pagoda-like tower overlooking Interstate 285 off Ashford Dunwoody Road.
CBRE’s Chris Port, Kyle Kenyon and Nicole Goldsmith represented the landlord, a joint venture between Estein USA and Vanderbilt Office Properties. Cresa’s Billy Hobbs brokered the deal for Meridian.
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Fanbase has leased space at Encore at The Interlock, a collaborative tech-focused coworking outfit within the West Midtown mixed-use destination. Encore is operated by Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures. The firms did not disclose how many square feet Fanbase leased.
Stream Realty’s Madison McClellan and Malik Leaphart represented GATV, while CBRE’s Dale Lewis represented Fanbase.
DEVELOPMENT
Atlanta-based craft brewery Monday Night Brewing is looking to spend $2M to turn a 5K SF building along the Atlanta BeltLine into a new bar and kitchen, the ABC reported. The building at 1500 Northside Drive is near its original brewery on Trabert Avenue in West Midtown and will include lounge areas, gardens and a play area for children.
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Meal delivery service FreshRealm plans to expand its Montezuma, Georgia, facility, adding 300 new jobs, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced this week. The Texas-based fresh food packaging company will invest $6.3M to expand its 64K SF facility in Macon County to include additional new production lines and other enhancements, according to the governor.
Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Christy Bozeman negotiated incentives on behalf of the state and the Development Authority of Macon County.
SALES
Colorado-based Spartan Investment Group purchased a 101K SF self-storage facility from Rhino Mini Storage for $8.5M, according to records from Athens-Clarke County. The facility, built earlier this year, includes more than 1,000 storage units at 775 Athena Drive.
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Equity Residential Properties purchased The Bishop, a 425-unit apartment complex at 1115 Springwood Connector in Sandy Springs for $108M, the ABC reported. The seller was an affiliate of Blackstone.
PERSONNEL
Vic Marotta has been tapped by Cresa as principal and project management lead in Atlanta, tasked with expanding the local team and pursuing large-scale office and industrial assignments.
A graduate of Cornell University, Marotta has more than 27 years of construction and project management experience, most recently having served as Link Logistics’ senior vice president.
