Tower Place 400 News

[james2390]

Does anyone have news on Tower Place 400 in Atlanta? Whats its status?

[Style™]

I do not know anything about it....Anything out there? :)

[Style™]

Any renderings of this one?

[lokinyc]

I think construction is supposed to start in the fall.

http://www.towerplace.net/images/bldg400pic2.jpg

[teshadoh]

Please help me to determine where that is - is the left to right street Peachtree Rd & the intersecting street Tower Place?

[renner01]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2004/05/31/daily29.html

This is the most recent news i have.Per emporis.com the project is approved
but i dont know if they are talking about tower 400 in the bizjournal article above.

[JordanF338]

Yes!!! Another spire for ATL! And this is not in a bad way. That looks pretty cool.

[ugafootball]

where is the tower place building supposed to be built and when is construction to begin?

[Style™]

Here is that article:



Regent plans speculative Buckhead office building

Atlanta-based Regent Partners may go spec in Buckhead.

Citing an improving economy and job market, David Allman, president and founder of Regent Partners, said the developer may build a speculative office tower in Buckhead at a site fronting Peachtree Street between One Capital City Plaza and the American Intercontinental University on Tower Place Drive and Peachtree Road. Allman said the size of the building would be somewhere in the 500,000-square-foot range.

Speculative construction means a developer will construct a building without preleasing any space to companies.

This would be the first speculative office building in some time for the Atlanta office real estate market, which has been hammered by a lack of corporate office growth and declining rental rates. The trend has been instead to build office buildings with a significant office tenant already signed up, such as the future office tower in Midtown that will house Atlanta law firm King & Spalding.

"We think the timing's good for building," Allman said. "We think that the market will be strong in Buckhead in '07, and we will consider doing a spec building accordingly. I think there's some pent up demand for quality space in Buckhead."

Allman said there is no deal imminent, and Regent is talking to possible tenants to occupy space. Allman said he has not received financing for the office tower as of yet.

Regent's last development was Tower Place 200 in 1998, a 259,000-square-foot office tower on Peachtree Road in Buckhead.

[ATLANTATOPS]

Tower place 400 I drove by today and they are clearing the land.. fencing it off.. Its across from the new hotel intercontenental and they are starting construction immediately as ground has been broken.. Its going to be a beautiful building and at night will have dramatic lighting at the top which will make it THE building of Buckhead , at least for now until the cousins tower goes up.

[starbuc jupiter]

i am happy that this one is getting started, I wish they would just stick 10 more floors in.

[mike2designatl]

If you look at the rendering of the tower place the building to the left is American Intercontinental University, it is five stories and I am a student there. Now if you look to the right of T. Place 400 you see One capital City Plaza. The construction which has started is not for tower place 400. That lot is to the left of american intercontinental university which is not this. I do have a rendering for what actually is going directly across from Intercontinental Hotel.

[mike2designatl]

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=133677

[dirtybird]

The area being fenced off is for Novare's City Center condos.

[JFSATLBLDR]

dirtybird is correct, go to www.novaregroup.com to see a rendering of it and all their current jobs

[james2390]

Wow, how confusing...

[starbuc jupiter]

So you are saying the novare condos are going in closer to the MARTA station and GA 400

not at the corner of P&P?

[Nick in Atlanta]

Guys, I drove by the the building site that is to the left (from Peachtree) of what is/used to be AIU and strangely enough for Atlanta, they actually had a sign up telling and showing you what was being built. It did say Tower Place 400, but the picture was not what is shown earlier in this thread, by lokinnyc. I may be wrong, but the building only looked about 10-15 floors tall. Again, the sign maybe totally wrong about everything, but like the people who say they saw UFOs I gotta say, "I saw what I saw!!"

[Nick in Atlanta]

Guys, I drove by the the building site that is to the left (from Peachtree) of what is/used to be AIU and strangely enough for Atlanta, they actually had a sign up telling and showing you what was being built. It did say Tower Place 400, but the picture was not what is shown earlier in this thread, by lokinnyc. I may be wrong, but the building only looked about 10-15 floors tall. Again, the sign maybe totally wrong about everything, but like the people who say they saw UFOs I gotta say, "I saw what I saw!!"

I double checked today and I was wrong! The construction site just south of American Intercontinental University's Buckhead building did not have a sign saying "Tower Place 400" and there was no picture shown. So, as far as I know they could be building what lokinyc showed us earlier in this thread. However, Novare's "City Center" clearly states that it will be built at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont. The construction we are talking about is not on the corner, in fact it is blocked from that corner by the Grand Hyatt. But the Emporis website refers to a "City Center Complex" which will be "a large mixed-use project that will include multiple office and residential towers built around the Grand Hyatt Atlanta on the northeast corner of Piedmont & Peachtree Roads in Buckhead." It goes on to include two buildings, 24 story "One City Center" and 29 story "City Center Tower." This could just be an overlook by Emporis, but the Grand Hyatt is not on the northeast corner of Piedmont & Peachtree, but rather the northwest corner. Personally, I think it is just an oversight on Emporis's part.

So, I don't know. Emporis seems to be referring to a "complex" of buildings built around the Grand Hyatt, while Novare's website only mentions one building and it's not on the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont. I would wager that it's One City Center at 24 floors that's under construction. It was probably at one point "400 Tower Place," but with Novare in the picture the name changed. (That should be as clear as mud!!)

I also found out what sign I did see in the previous reply by me. It was for "Two Buckhead Plaza," which is under construction at present. It is located just south of Buckhead Plaza and just north of The ESPN Zone. The sign shows the building at seven stories tall. :)

[james2390]

Whew, I was going to say, WHAT A RIP OFF!

[Nick in Atlanta]

@james2390: What are you referring to? I was editing my post (#19) and changed my view about a couple things, while you replied (#20), and now your reply doesn't make sense to me.

[james2390]

Oh, I was refering to when you were talking about you saw a sign with a 10 to 15 story building on where Tower Place 400 was supposed to be.

[Nick in Atlanta]

@james2390: I corrected that mistake.

[james2390]

I see that:)

[starbuc jupiter]

Hey Nick,

Are you as dissapointed as I am with that seven story building at Buckhead Plaza. What a waste. The white stone bank building that was there was even under consideration for landmark status as a good example of mid 20th century moderanism. Loosing it would not be so trajic if the new building had character, but all I can say is Blahhhhh

[Nick in Atlanta]

From what I understand, that whole Buckhead Plaza concept failed from the beginning. I believe, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, that Buckhead Plaza was meant to be about five or so tall buildings. Buckhead Plaza "One", let's call it, went up and it looks very good in my opinion, but then the developer decided to stop building. (The economy probably had something to do with it.) Now we have the seven story Two Buckhead Plaza and starbuc jupiter says that an architecturally sound building was knocked down to make room for it.

I think that Peachtree Street/Road should be saved for showcasing Atlanta's best buildings, new or older.

[starbuc jupiter]

I think the location handicaps this project from ever taking off. I like the Plaza building, it is nice looking and has a good street interaction.

Basically it is too far from Marta and GA-400. If It really started growing you would have a traffic nightmare. Uoops ............already is

[Its not about me]

The AJC had an article today on Tower Place 400. Apparantly, Regent's sales at the Buckhead Grand have caused them to decide to add a condo component to the tower. They didn't include any renderings; but apparantly some exist. A local neighborhood activist claimed that the project looks amazing. With the addition of this tower, the Buckhead Grand, Cousins' 600' building at Peachtree and Piedmont and I.M. Pei's 40-story residential tower at the Rooms to Go site, this section of Buckhead will look outstanding.

[Its not about me]

Regent Partners received zoning approval this week for the mixed use tower that will replace Tower Place 400. The new tower will have street level retail, followed by six floors of parking, 18 floors of office and 21 floors of residential for a total of 46 floors. This replaces the original plan for a 27 story office tower on the site. The building site will be on the north side of Peachtree Road, about a block west of GA 400.

No renderings have been released yet. The building is likely to be in the 550'-600' range, similar in height to the proposed Cousins Tower a block away.

Prior to Cousins' announcement, Regent had expressed a willingness to build TP 400 speculatively. Apparently, Cousins success in lining up tenants to kick off their tower, coupled with Regent's success at selling condos in the Buckhead Grand led to their change in plans. I will be interested to see what level of office preleasing and residential pre-sales they require to move forward on the development of this proposal.

[james2390]

They need to give us a rendering before I go crazy about this one.:bash:

[UPWARDATLANTA]

AWESOME

[Nick in Atlanta]

Regent Partners received zoning approval this week for the mixed use tower that will replace Tower Place 400. The new tower will have street level retail, followed by six floors of parking, 18 floors of office and 21 floors of residential for a total of 46 floors. This replaces the original plan for a 27 story office tower on the site. The building site will be on the north side of Peachtree Road, about a block west of GA 400.

No renderings have been released yet. The building is likely to be in the 550'-600' range, similar in height to the proposed Cousins Tower a block away.

@Its not about me: Is there a "working name" for this prospective building? I can't find any news about it anywhere. Regent Partners website has nothing new. I'm not questioning the veracity of what you heard, I'm just seeing if I can find out some more info. :)

[james2390]

I looked on Smallwood, Reynolds, and Stewart's site and they had nothing aswell.

[Nick in Atlanta]

I guess we'll have to wait until they go public. :)

[jddar]

I watched the Zoning Review Board on Channel 26 earlier this week and Regent Partners plans were approved just as described above (street level retail, 6-above grade levels of parking, 18-floors of office, and 21-floors of condominiums in one structure).

Instead of being a giant monolith, each of the building's components create a stepped effect with the building becoming increasingly slender as it rises.

A few of the board members praised the design with one saying it was "handsome and innovative." Also, the NPU spokesperson spoke highly of the buildings design and its friendliness to pedestrians. Remarkably, there were zero people speaking to object.

[Its not about me]

The details about the mix of offices, retail and residential were presented at the zoning meeting...

DAVID PENDERED
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
12/27/04

As seen in the rearview mirror, the year 2004 seems all about a room with a view. As in a view from the bedroom, the living room and the sun room.

Residential construction dominated Atlanta's intown development. Even office developers stuck their toes in the hot tub of housing construction as the office market limped into a slower-than-expected rebound.

Just last week, the developer of Tower Place in Buckhead unveiled plans to scrap an office tower and replace it with a mixed-use tower that has luxury condos on the top floors and upscale offices and trendy retail space on lower floors. Regent Partners shifted direction as another luxury condo it built at Tower Place, the Buckhead Grand, has sold half of its 286 units since the building opened in May.

"As developers, we certainly would count ourselves as seeing the merits of doing residential," Allman says of the latest project. "This will be our grand building on our prime Peachtree Road property, and we're in the process of changing it to a vertical mixed-use building."

A twist to the boomlet of multifamily residential is that neighbors now are embracing projects once viewed as a death knell for housing values. That's the case even in Buckhead, where residents have a history of bottling up proposed developments that were viewed as harmful.

Neighbors of Tower Place discussed the new plan last week at a meeting of the development committee of Buckhead's neighborhood planning unit.

"David Allman is stepping up with a plan that's a human scale and will give some streetside presence," says Sally Silver, who heads the committee. "Given that the site was already approved for megadevelopment, at least now we're getting some residential and a project that will be more pedestrian friendly than the office building that was previous planned. And the design is awesome."

High-rise boom

New high-rise residences seem to raise Atlanta's skyline daily. And the construction cranes towering above Buckhead, Midtown and downtown Atlanta tell just part of the story. Conversions of older rental apartment buildings continue to pop up all over town — with units priced to sell.

Examples abound from Midtown through the Virginia-Highland area and even to gritty Memorial Drive. A Midtown high-rise now called the Oakwood is being retooled into condos starting in the $90,000s and rising to more than $1 million. On Memorial, a former warehouse for used motorcycle parts is being converted into condos to be priced from the low $200,000s.

Meanwhile, new houses are being built in older Atlanta neighborhoods. Many loom over nearby houses because they are, or appear to be, much larger than the surrounding houses. The trend has taken off in the past three years, prompting the Atlanta City Council to see if new policies are needed to govern infill development. The council is expected to consider the matter as early as April.

Housing was a top agenda item at numerous government and corporate meetings over the year. Topics included how to make sure middle-class folks can afford a home in the city; how to encourage developers to build residences in areas already served by sewers and roads, instead of on rural fields; and how to convince retailers and small businesses that they can prosper in currently blighted areas because these neighborhoods are poised to begin filling with residents with disposable incomes.

Atlanta has added an average of more than 5,000 residents a year since 2000, according to estimates.

Even Moody's Investors Services, a bond rating agency, has weighed in on Atlanta's housing situation. In a report issued this month on the city's financial health, Moody's determined that adequate housing has been provided for the influx of middle-class residents. It figures Atlanta's population has been rising steadily and the newcomers must be able to find a place to live.

Residential construction helped drive up Atlanta's tax digest. The digest is the value of all parcels in the city that pay property taxes, and it grew by 30 percent from 2000 to 2002. That's an increase from $13.9 billion to $18.4 billion, says John Incorvaia, Moody's chief analyst for Atlanta.

Atlanta's housing market is so hot that investors can't seem to buy enough multifamily buildings, says Dale Henson of Dale Henson Associates.

He's been evaluating the creditworthiness of metro Atlanta properties for more than 30 years and has never seen a market like this.

"The acquisitions people are just dying to buy," Henson says. "Our reports are used to obtain financing, and they're not needed anymore. The condo builders can get all the financing they want."

Boom and bust

Henson wonders how long the boom will continue. He and other veterans of Atlanta's real estate market know that every boom is followed by a bust.

But there's some consensus that the nation's current economic cycle, with low interest rates propelling many renters into homeownership, will fuel the housing boom for the foreseeable future.

Plus, the new crowd moving into the center city has an appetite for intown living that's unprecedented in Atlanta, says A.J. Robinson. Robinson was president of Portman Holdings, where he oversaw domestic and foreign real estate development, before becoming president of Central Atlanta Progress, a downtown booster group.

"I think it's going to continue because we're on the cutting edge of a whole movement of people back to the city, where people want to live in a high-rise, denser residential product," Robinson says.

"You see it all over America. Atlanta may be late coming to the game, but we're catching up."

Robinson said a social shift toward intown living is under way, and he thinks it goes beyond the traffic congestion that's typically cited as a reason a growing number of residents are choosing to locate in Atlanta.

"There's a big shift in folks wanting to live, work, play and shop without having to get into their cars," Robinson says.

"I think that's a fundamental shift. And because downtown, Midtown and Buckhead represent the region's greatest assets of things to be near, the cultural venues, religious institutions and other places where things are going on, people are choosing to live intown."

[Its not about me]

The City Center condos have broken ground. The Cousins Tower is supposed to go on the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont. As you go northeast on Peachtree from that corner, the existing Grand Hyatt is next. City Center follows. Then you have the entrance into the existing Tower Place development. I think that the new tower will be placed along Peachtree between the existing Tower Place entrance and American Intercontinental University - at least to my knowledge that was the proposed location for TP 400.

One other observation - Currently, the new Buckhead Grand is the tallest Buckhead building on the west side of 400 at 38 stories and about 450' (This is a very nice looking building, by the way). Not only will the two new towers, Cousins' and Regent's, be significantly taller than this, they will also be oriented on sites that are quite a bit higher in elevation. The elevations at Tower Place 100 and the Grand are at least 40-50' lower than these new sites.

[starbuc jupiter]

From what I understand, that whole Buckhead Plaza concept failed from the beginning. I believe, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, that Buckhead Plaza was meant to be about five or so tall buildings. Buckhead Plaza "One", let's call it, went up and it looks very good in my opinion, but then the developer decided to stop building. (The economy probably had something to do with it.) Now we have the seven story Two Buckhead Plaza and starbuc jupiter says that an architecturally sound building was knocked down to make room for it.

I think that Peachtree Street/Road should be saved for showcasing Atlanta's best buildings, new or older.


Litlle did we know that htis would be come a thee day fiasco whth some Loon on a crane.

[Nick in Atlanta]

Is that where this guy is, at the Ovation construction site? I saw a picture on the news on friday and I could see the ESPN Zone Restaurant behind the reporter. Otherwise, I haven't been following the story.

I'm sure that pretty soon there will be shouts of "Jump...jump!!!."

[doormanpoet]

Atlantan's are so lucky to have such great architecture and firms willing to take risks with designs. Our architecture here in Nashville is so bland and dated!