SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. -- The "King" and "Queen" buildings, the two iconic office towers looming over the Atlanta Perimeter and Georgia 400 for years, have found a new buyer in a deal that could range from $480 million to $500 million.
Stamford, Conn.-based Building and Land Technology has reached an agreement to buy the towers, which are part of the more than 2-million-square-foot Concourse Corporate Center development.
The deal would continue a resurgence of investment into Atlanta's office market, where job growth has returned, occupancy has recovered, and several high-profile developments have traded hands in the past year, including Northpark Town Center in Sandy Springs and the Pinnacle building in Buckhead.
Concourse Corporate Center is the latest example.
Atlanta-based Regent Partners and its investment partners including GEM Realty Capital Inc. bought the more than 60-acre project in Sandy Springs in 2012, paying roughly $312 million. Regent Partners put Concourse Corporate Center on the market late last year, after bringing the two towers to more than 90 percent occupancy. At the same time, rents in the central Perimeter have seen one of the strongest periods of growth in about 25 years.
Building and Land Technology is hoping those rent spikes continue. At least in the short-term, they might.
Even though several central Perimeter developers have office projects in the pipeline, none have broken ground. In Atlanta, only one spec tower, the 455,000-square foot Three Alliance Center at Georgia 400 near luxury mall Phipps Plaza, is under way.
At the same time, Atlanta is expected to add anywhere from 75,000 to more than 100,000 jobs this year. Sandy Springs just landed the new north American headquarters of Mercedes-Benz. More large office tenants have also expressed interest in relocating to the central Perimeter.
Building and Land Technology is no stranger to real estate cycles. Founded in 1982 by brothers Carl and Paul Kuehner, it's one of Connecticut's largest office landlords.
It's also developed residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects, such as Harbor Point in Stamford, a giant transit-oriented development with office space and more than 2,000 apartments.
Building and Land Technology would have the chance to develop a more than 4-acre tract at Concourse Corporate Center, which is already zoned for a high-density mixed-use project.
