Rockefeller, Trammell Crow Seeking OK To Add To Midtown Atlanta Skyline

Two developers are looking to add new office towers to Midtown Atlanta, including one that would pierce the skyline at 61 stories tall.

Developers Rockefeller Group and Trammell Crow went before the Midtown Development Review Committee Tuesday evening, each with a plan to build a new skyscraper in the market, and each was asked to return next month to address design issues.

Rockefeller Group, the New York City-based American development subsidiary of Mitsubishi, is proposing a 61-story mixed-use tower with 212K SF of office, 350 residential units and 10K SF of street-level retail at 1072 West Peachtree St. NW, according to its DRC application.

The Midtown DRC, a first step for developers building in Midtown, makes recommendations on proposed developments in the submarket to the Atlanta City Council.

Rockefeller recently completed the 64-unit 40 West 12th St. condo building that is part of Selig Enterprises' larger 1105 West Peachtree mixed-use project. Its latest proposal would rise next to the Skyhouse Midtown apartment tower, three blocks from Peachtree Street. The developer paid $25M for the 1.1-acre site in April that is now home to a post office. That branch is expected to move once its lease expires, the Atlanta Business Chronicle previously reported.

During Tuesday's meeting, the project's architect, David Brown of TVSdesign, told DRC members that its office space would rest atop an eight-story, 850-space parking deck and beneath the apartments on the highest levels of the building, which would have some outdoor terrace space.

“This thing is really sort of a layer cake of program,” Brown said.

Trammell Crow, which built the 345K SF Twelve24 transit-oriented tower in Central Perimeter that is home to Insight Global's Atlanta office, is proposing a 30-story office tower four blocks to the southeast at 80 Peachtree Place. The site, at the corner of Peachtree Place and Crescent Avenue, is now home to Delta Credit Union.

In an email after the hearing, Trammell Crow principal Brandon Houston told Bisnow the developer is bullish on Atlanta, especially the Midtown submarket.

“Emerging from the pandemic, I believe Atlanta is one of the best cities to see new office demand,” he wrote. "A flight to quality will be a key for many occupiers looking to upgrade their space, so I see our new building being successful."

Developers are underway with 1.7M SF of new office construction in Midtown, and 80% of all Metro Atlanta office leasing occurred in the submarket last quarter, according to a recent Colliers report.

“We continue to feel very good about Midtown Atlanta. The reasons for that are companies are recognizing that they can attract and retain some of those, the best tech talent in the market, but also attract diverse talent,” Cousins Properties CEO Colin Connolly said on an Oct. 29 call with analysts. “As we look at the supply picture today, it's actually relatively muted. With the delivery of our Norfolk Southern building, there are really just two projects under development today in Midtown and one of those is over 50% pre-leased to Invesco. So the supply-demand fundamentals are actually pretty strong ... if you look at it on a historical basis.”

Trammell Crow's project, called Stratus Midtown, would cost more than $280M, or nearly $600 per SF, Houston said. Trammell Crow officials haven't decided if they will start construction speculatively on the project or wait for a signed pre-lease.

“We have not made a final decision on going spec or not, but I think Atlanta is one of the few cities in the country that a developer could go spec in today,” Houston said. “We are in discussions with equity and debt capital providers, but we have not finalized anything.”

In conjunction with the Atlanta History Center Midtown — operators of the historic Margaret Mitchell House off 10th Street — Trammell Crow is proposing to turn Crescent Avenue into a one-way street for improved traffic and pedestrian flow, Houston told the DRC.

In his email, Houston said the city ultimately needs to approve the Crescent Avenue plan through legislation, but Trammell Crow has the support for the move from the Atlanta History Center and the Department of Transportation. As part of the development, Trammell Crow plans to build an events space for the history center's use, he said.

“We are working with the history center ... over the last year about planning these two blocks together to make it a little more pedestrian-friendly,” Houston said during the DRC meeting.

Some DRC officials questioned Trammell Crow's plans for a 13-story, 828-space enclosed parking deck, asking if the developer really needed that much parking. Houston said the parking comes out to less than two spaces per 1K SF of office, which is less than other competing projects.

“But [we have] got to have that ability to have that amount of parking to lease the building,” he said.

Both developers are expected to come before the Midtown DRC again in December.

CORRECTION, NOV. 10, 2:12 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote regarding details about 1072 West Peachtree St. to Ben Hudgins of Brock Hudgins Architects. The speaker was TVSdesign Principal David Brown. The story has been updated.