CBRE Tapped To Find New Office Tenants For CNN Center

Now that CNN has moved out of its longtime home in Downtown Atlanta, the owners of CNN Center are looking for replacement tenants rather than pushing forward on a redevelopment.

CP Group and Rialto Capital Management, which bought the massive commercial complex in 2021, have enlisted a team of CBRE brokers led by Executive Vice President Jeff Keppen to market nearly 500K SF of office space to new tenants, according to an online marketing brochure. 

CP Group and Rialto paid WarnerMedia $144.8M in July 2021 for the 1.1M SF complex, according to property records. The media giant, which owns CNN, leased back the complex from the landlords as it prepared to move out of the space and consolidate in its Techwood campus in Midtown.

CP Group is planning on rebranding the property, according to a CBRE spokesperson, but the landlord and the brokerage declined to comment further until an official announcement is made.

The listing for the 49-year-old 1 CNN Center Plaza indicates the space could be available starting in July. No asking rent is listed for the Class-B space, where tenants can lease a single 38K SF floor or the entire 12-story building.

This month, WarnerMedia removed the iconic 5,000-pound CNN sign, which was erected in 1998 and served as a popular photo opportunity for tourists, from in front of the building. The sign was moved to the Midtown campus where the media company owns a number of buildings for its TNT and Cartoon Network divisions. It marked the final stage of CNN's exit from its headquarters of more than 35 years.

When WarnerMedia made the deal with CP Group, it said it could lease back CNN Center for up to five years, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this month that the lease ran for three years — a term that would expire in a matter of months. 

The building's ownership could be facing some immediate pressure to show positive momentum at the building. The $98.5M loan the companies took out with Bank of America to fund the acquisition is set to mature on June 30, according to Atlanta commercial real estate research firm Databank.

CNN Center is at the heart of Downtown Atlanta, where local stakeholders hope a series of large-scale developments could trigger a rebirth. It overlooks the construction of the $5B Centennial Yards mixed-use project, spearheaded by Atlanta Hawks owner and CIM Group co-founder Tony Ressler.

But CP Group has been mostly quiet about its plans for CNN Center since its acquisition. Last year, CP Group partner Chris Eachus said the Boca Raton-based office investor was considering converting one of the five interconnected buildings that are part of the CNN Center campus into about 300 apartment units. But Eachus told the paper offices would remain “a meaningful component” in the redevelopment and the developers would keep the 50K SF retail atrium.

Downtown Atlanta and its various redevelopment efforts are expected to be in the spotlight in 2026 when the city is scheduled to host eight games in the FIFA World Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, just a half-mile west of CNN Center.