This Week's Atlanta Deal Sheet: Ben Hautt Planning New Westside Market Hall

A former executive with Stream Realty who established his own development firm earlier this year has unveiled his first adaptive reuse project, which is being pitched as akin to Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market or London’s Borough Market.

Ben Hautt is redeveloping 1385 Collier Road, a two-building, 97K SF warehouse complex that he plans to transform into an indoor farmer’s market called the Upper West Market. The two-floor facility will include a 9K SF area filled with stalls leased to local food purveyors as well as 13K SF of second-story office space and an 8K SF soft goods retail center, according to a press release.

Hautt, who established his own development firm earlier this year called Robles Partners, also is including cooler storage space, according to marketing materials sent to Bisnow.

Robles Partners has already snagged a host of tenants to debut stores at Upper West Market, including Chef Anne Quatrano’s Summerland Cafe dining concept, White Oak Pastures meat market, HopCity Wine Bar, Honeysuckle Gelato ice creamery, made-from-scratch dips purveyor Dips Kitchen and Novare Events, a 26K SF events hall that will include an outdoor garden.

Hautt purchased the facility in 2021 for $9.1M from Sweetwater Holdings, he confirmed to Bisnow. The project is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2025, according to the release.

DEVELOPMENT

Columbia Ventures plans to convert the 17-story 40 Marietta St. office tower into a 152-unit affordable senior living facility in Downtown Atlanta. Columbia would offer units from between $698 to $2,000 per month, according to documents with Invest Atlanta.

Invest Atlanta approved a $32.5M tax-exempt loan on Sept. 19 to finance the project. 

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Atlanta office had occupied 40 Marietta St. until February. It was owned by Jordache Enterprises, the fashion magnet that owns Jordache jeans, XOXO and U.S. Polo Assn. fashion brands. Jordache put the tower up for sale earlier this year for $12M, Bisnow previously reported. It was unclear if Columbia had already purchased the tower. 

***

The Integral Group has delivered and opened Veranda at Assembly, a four-story, 100-unit affordable senior living complex next to the Assembly mixed-use film studio campus in Doraville. The building is restricted to residents 55 and older. McShane Construction Co. acted as the general contractor.

***

Georgia-Pacific and its parent company Koch are planning to convert its 51-story Downtown Atlanta headquarters called Georgia-Pacific Center into a mixed-use tower that will include 400 apartment units at the uppermost part of the tower. Other features will include 125K SF of retail and entertainment spaces and a 35K SF central Plaza.

The company didn't disclose the cost of the conversion but confirmed it would anchor the office portion of the tower. A spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific told Bisnow that it is vetting potential investors for the project. Georgia-Pacific tapped Transwestern Executive Managing Director Clark Dean to help establish and implement the new vision.

***

Lalani Ventures, in partnership with New York-based Exact Capital, plans to build a mixed-use apartment tower that spans 405 units of student, income-restricted and market-rate housing, art incubators, retail and public spaces above Underground Atlanta. The project would have a total cost of $160M, Lalani CEO Shaneel Lalani told Bisnow. The site at 76 Wall St. is home to a single-story retail plaza at the street level of Underground Atlanta. It is next to a multistory parking deck.

The tower's financing would also include a $22.5M taxable construction loan and $7.5M in federal and state tax credit equity, according to the filing. It also projects $77M in permanent financing to include more than $55M in federal and state tax credit equity. Berkadia is listed as the construction and permanent lender, while U.S. Bank is listed as the investor in the federal and state low-income housing tax credits.

The filing says 163 units are slated to be restricted for renters earning up to 60% of the area median income, with those monthly rents ranging from $971 for a studio to $1,225 for a two-bedroom unit.

LEASES

T-Mobile renewed its lease for 100K SF of office space at the 800K SF One Ravinia tower in Central Perimeter. CBRE’s Eric Ross represented the landlord of the 17-story tower, CP Group. Cushman & Wakefield’s Kirk Diamond, April Parrish, Erin Smith and Steven Taylor represented T-Mobile. Terms of the renewal weren't disclosed.

***

Thrive Coworking has leased nearly 19K SF at 3176 Main St., a commercial building across from Duluth City Hall in Downtown Duluth, What Now Atlanta reported. It plans to open a new coworking location later this fall, marking its eighth Georgia location.

FINANCING

As part of Mayor Andre Dickens' rapid rehousing program, Invest Atlanta approved the issuance of $75M in revenue bonds to help finance the construction of 500 quick-delivery housing units geared as permanent housing for Atlanta residents experiencing homelessness.

The city is developing the modular units in conjunction with the nonprofit Partners for Home, according to Invest Atlanta documents. The bonds will not exceed 7.5% per year in interest and will be coupled with $10M from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Projects include 100 units at the Atlanta Waterworks Park, 100 units at 405 Cooper St. in Atlanta and an apartment building at 729 Bonaventure Ave.

SALES

Gwinnett County approved the $16.5M purchase of Macy’s department store, land and furniture store at Gwinnett Place Mall, expanding the county’s ownership of the former mall to 76 acres. The county is moving forward on a redevelopment of the 526K SF mall into Global Village, a mixed-use project that entails 3,800 residential units, 50K SF of office space, 55K SF of retail and a 50K SF cultural center surrounding a 13-acre public park. 

Macy’s plans to shutter early next year.

***

Atrium Health purchased nearly 40 acres by the West End MARTA station in Southwest Atlanta for $70M earlier this month, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The seller was an affiliate of the Atlanta developer Carter. The location, called Met Atlanta, is a collection of former warehouses that are now home to artists. Atrium Health declined to disclose plans for the land.