Shorenstein Strives For Image Change With The Block @ BofAP

Shorenstein is banking that 24k SF will transform the image of a stodgy, white, buttoned-up tower into a dynamic tech hub.

Bank of America Plaza's newest owner, Shorenstein, has unveiled 24k SF of spec office suites called The Block @ BofAP.

Like you're seeing around all of metro Atlanta, with co-working spaces on the rise, The Block is being designed to look collaborative, trendy and hip in an effort to attract a more tech-centric and creative workforce to what has historically been a tower filled with bankers and lawyers.

“They want to be around people who are like them. These suites will attract small companies purely based on the uniqueness of the spaces,” says CBRE's Jeff Keppen.

It's a similar strategy Jeff (center, from a Bisnow event in 2014) and CBRE took at Atlantic Station's office towers. Nearly a decade ago, under previous ownership, it was home to banks, finance firms and lawyers.

While those tenants still occupy space at the mini-city's office towers, CBRE strove for a perception change that attracted more tech firms, using spec suites, Jeff says. The perception changed, and Atlantic Station was able to attract big tech fish: WorldPay, one of the city's largest fintech operators, recently occupied its 130k SF at 201 17th St.

Unlike co-working concepts like Industrious or WeWork, Jeff and Shorenstein's Chris Caltabiano says the target audience here is somewhat different: smaller, established companies that want a more corporate office presence, but still within striking distance of Midtown's burgeoning tech hub. In other words, companies that can pay the freight: rents at The Block are being quoted at $32/SF full-service for loft suites up to 6k SF.

“The customer we're chasing is typically a more established company. It's not two guys starting a technology company and they need office on a month-to-month basis,” Jeff says. “The reason is pretty simple. We found throughout the last two or three years...companies in general are interested in collaborative office space. But they don't really care if it's in some tower like BofA or in some warehouse somewhere.”