Carl Icahn Looks To Renovate AT&T Building Lobby, Plaza
With Atlanta and 20 other cities anxiously awaiting Amazon's decision for its second headquarters, the 49-story Midtown tower that is rumored to be part of Atlanta's bid is set to get a facelift as its main tenant plans to leave.
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Carl Icahn is pumping capital into 675 West Peachtree St., better known as the AT&T building, to update the lobby and create an outdoor gathering plaza with patio seating. The proposed renovations are going before the Midtown Development Review Committee Tuesday, according to Midtown Alliance documents.
Icahn Enterprise Holdings — which owns the 49-story, 1.4M SF tower in Midtown — is proposing the renovations months after marquee tenant AT&T announced plans to empty the building by the end of its lease term. Cost of the project was not disclosed. Officials with Icahn did not return calls seeking comment.
Locals have speculated that the AT&T building could be a stopgap for Amazon's HQ2 project if the online retail giant were to select Atlanta for its new home. Amazon named Atlanta as one of the 20 finalists for its $5B HQ2 project, one that could see the e-commerce giant ultimately occupy 8M SF of offices. But Amazon also needs at least 500K SF right out of the gate in the winning city.
Georgia has been pursuing the deal, submitting a package of unrevealed incentives in hopes of luring Amazon to the metro region. That package also included information on a host of properties in Atlanta that could accommodate the Amazon campus, including The Gulch in Downtown Atlanta and various sites in Midtown, including MetLife's Midtown Union project.
