$300 Million Office & Hotel Development Announced
December 13, 2004
Barry Real Estate Cos. has announced plans for a $300 million office and hotel development at a prominent location in Downtown Atlanta. Allen Plaza will be anchored by accounting firm Ernst & Young .
Named Allen Plaza after former Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., the development will be located at the Williams Street ramp near Centennial Olympic Park. For many years, the site was home to the Boomershine Ford dealership and in recent years the land has featured a Heineken billboard flashing over the I-75/85 downtown connector.
Rendering of Allen Plaza
Allen Plaza will feature two new office buildings, including the tallest structure built downtown in a decade, and a 250-room hotel. A third office building at the site, for Southern Co., was announced in January and is already under construction.
Ernst & Young will occupy nearly half of one of the planned buildings, to be called 55 Allen Plaza. The 14-story tower will have 350,000 square foot of office space on property that Barry will lease from Atlanta developer Selig Enterprises. The company's Atlanta office will move its partners out of Bank of America Plaza at Peachtree Street and North Avenue.
"Allen Plaza is exactly what Downtown needs to create momentum, said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress.
"Ernst & Young's commitment to Allen Plaza shows corporate America that Downtown remains the heart of Atlanta's business district," Robinson said.
"Coupled with Southern Co.'s decision to stay, E&Y's relocation to Allen Plaza proves that Downtown can attract and retain blue-chip tenants."
- "New downtown site named for Mayor Allen "
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/9/04
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Barry will also build a much larger, 34-story tower behind the Ernst site for an unnamed tenant that Barry is now courting." This skyscraper will be the tallest tower downtown since 1992.
Developer Hal Barry has made an agreement with the Allen family to pay a licensing fee for the use of his name, with the fee evenly split between two institutions that bear Allen's name, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech and the Ivan Allen Society of Atlanta's United Way. An additional Allen connection is the fact that Allen Plaza will front on Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (formerly the Jones-Simpson-Alexander corridor).
The naming of Allen Plaza helps fulfill a desire by many leaders to give due credit to the mayor who did more to make Atlanta a tolerant city for all races during the volatile days of integration and the civil rights movement.
Allen was the only elected official from the South to testify in Congress in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also was instrumental in keeping Atlanta a beacon for the South when it came to race relations. In particular, his leadership after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. kept Atlanta free from racial violence.
- "Allen Plaza pays tribute to beloved
late mayor in word and deed"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/10/04
An adjacent development, planned by condo developers Novare Group and Wood Partners, will be two residential towers of more than 1,000 units on a plot behind the Civic Center MARTA station.
December 13, 2004
Barry Real Estate Cos. has announced plans for a $300 million office and hotel development at a prominent location in Downtown Atlanta. Allen Plaza will be anchored by accounting firm Ernst & Young .
Named Allen Plaza after former Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., the development will be located at the Williams Street ramp near Centennial Olympic Park. For many years, the site was home to the Boomershine Ford dealership and in recent years the land has featured a Heineken billboard flashing over the I-75/85 downtown connector.
Rendering of Allen Plaza
Allen Plaza will feature two new office buildings, including the tallest structure built downtown in a decade, and a 250-room hotel. A third office building at the site, for Southern Co., was announced in January and is already under construction.
Ernst & Young will occupy nearly half of one of the planned buildings, to be called 55 Allen Plaza. The 14-story tower will have 350,000 square foot of office space on property that Barry will lease from Atlanta developer Selig Enterprises. The company's Atlanta office will move its partners out of Bank of America Plaza at Peachtree Street and North Avenue.
"Allen Plaza is exactly what Downtown needs to create momentum, said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress.
"Ernst & Young's commitment to Allen Plaza shows corporate America that Downtown remains the heart of Atlanta's business district," Robinson said.
"Coupled with Southern Co.'s decision to stay, E&Y's relocation to Allen Plaza proves that Downtown can attract and retain blue-chip tenants."
- "New downtown site named for Mayor Allen "
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/9/04
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Barry will also build a much larger, 34-story tower behind the Ernst site for an unnamed tenant that Barry is now courting." This skyscraper will be the tallest tower downtown since 1992.
Developer Hal Barry has made an agreement with the Allen family to pay a licensing fee for the use of his name, with the fee evenly split between two institutions that bear Allen's name, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech and the Ivan Allen Society of Atlanta's United Way. An additional Allen connection is the fact that Allen Plaza will front on Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (formerly the Jones-Simpson-Alexander corridor).
The naming of Allen Plaza helps fulfill a desire by many leaders to give due credit to the mayor who did more to make Atlanta a tolerant city for all races during the volatile days of integration and the civil rights movement.
Allen was the only elected official from the South to testify in Congress in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also was instrumental in keeping Atlanta a beacon for the South when it came to race relations. In particular, his leadership after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. kept Atlanta free from racial violence.
- "Allen Plaza pays tribute to beloved
late mayor in word and deed"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/10/04
An adjacent development, planned by condo developers Novare Group and Wood Partners, will be two residential towers of more than 1,000 units on a plot behind the Civic Center MARTA station.
