Colony Square Offering 23K SF Of Flex Space For Companies That Want To 'Flip The Switch'

As it becomes clear the coronavirus pandemic will impact American life into 2021, the owner of one of Atlanta's most prominent office properties has outfitted a chunk of space to allow companies to make a short-term move into a flexible office.

North American Properties is launching a “Flip The Switch” flex office program at Colony Square, it announced this week, offering more than 23K SF of pre-built, pre-furnished space across two buildings to companies for between six and 18 months.

“We were seeing a trend toward pop-ups and shorter lease terms in office and retail real estate before COVID-19,” NAP Managing Partner Tim Perry said in a release. “The pandemic has dramatically accelerated this trend and introduced new concerns for employers. We’re hearing that employers want to control their own workspace to keep their employees and visitors safe and be able to focus on short-term business needs while still evaluating long-term business strategies during the recovery.”

The entire 20K SF seventh floor of Building 400 is being offered for lease, as is more than 3K SF on the 16th floor of Building 100, according to an NAP spokesperson. The Building 400 space could be carved into smaller chunks or taken entirely by one company.

NAP acquired Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta in late 2015 for roughly $170M, and has helmed a major redevelopment plan, including building two new office buildings and bringing in an iPic Theater, for the 1M SF-plus property. It received $160M in bonds from the city for the project, which also includes an apartment building and hotel.

Cushman & Wakefield is managing leasing of the “Flip The Switch” space, which Managing Director Andy Sumlin said in a statement is “filling a gap in the market by offering a solution outside of coworking, remote working and traditional office space.”

While NAP is looking for solutions to the upheaval in the office market above the street level of Colony Square, it has also run into legal trouble for a chunk of the 160K SF of retail space at the project. The owner of Colony Square restaurant Establishment Midtown is suing NAP, claiming the developer owes it more than $100K and is trying to push it out to lease to a more expensive restaurant, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports.