Simpson acquires Midtown mid-rise for $4.5 million

Atlanta Business Chronicle - December 15, 2000by Matt Monroe

One day it may be known as the building past the end of the bridge.

Buckhead-based The Simpson Organization Inc. recently purchased The Peachtree 1389 Building in Midtown. The four-story building at 17th and Peachtree streets is just past where the mouth of the proposed 17th street bridge would empty out.

The price tag on the Midtown mid-rise across the street from Pershing Point, EarthLink's new digs, was $4.5 million, or around $110 a square foot.

The small building in the hot office market received a lot of attention, said John J. Wise, an investment sales broker with Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. who handled the 1389 Building transaction.

After taking the building to market last spring, the 1389 Building's primary tenant and former owner, Jova/Daniels/Busby, an Atlanta architectural firm, received seven offers. Jova/Daniels/Busby plans to stay in the building, at least for now, and has signed a five-year lease.

On top of it all, the building has its own parking lot, which can help alleviate the Midtown parking crunch that threatens to drive some deals out to the suburbs.

Wise said that the 17th Street bridge likely will make the building more accessible, and a new exit and entry route from the Midtown Peachtree corridor will help break up the gridlock.

Smaller intown investment properties are hot right now, Wise said.

Market observers say that even if the economy slides in 2001, the intown office markets will remain stable because available land and infrastructure are waning.

READ LETTER. Speaking of hot intown markets, it appears that even outsiders, usually skeptical about Atlanta 's real estate market, are talking Atlanta up.

Atlanta 's real estate mavens have a vested interest in putting a positive spin on the state of the local market. But Mike Martindill, a new executive working in the office buildings business development division of Hardin Construction Co., recently found that some of the chest beating appears to be justified, at least regarding the intown markets.

In a letter to Real Estate Notes, Martindill had this to say:

"I enjoyed reading your most recent article regarding the sewer woes facing developers in Buckhead [Dec. 1 issue, page 1]. As your article indicated, I too believe that our short-term sewer dilemma might actually be good for our office building market. While the sewer lines are being updated, the office market might finally be able to catch its breath and not over-build. I suspect that many deals, however, will venture a little further south into Midtown.

"I attended a dinner [hosted by the Florida Chapter of the North American Association of Industrial and Office Properties] this week in Orlando ... They emphasized the significance of 24-hour cities and subcities (evolving 24-hour cities). Both Buckhead and Midtown are considered subcities -- areas that developers and real estate investors find extremely attractive. The real estate community [outside of Atlanta ] is very bullish on both Buckhead and Midtown, especially if they can remedy their water ... issues."

INSPIRE. Trammell Crow Co. has crowned the Midtown skyline.

The Proscenium's signature spire has been placed atop the building at 14th and Peachtree streets. The Proscenium, which is 35 percent leased, is on schedule to deliver in spring 2001.

Proscenium Director of Leasing Amy Smith Cate said she is "close" to closing on a number of deals.

MEET THE NEW BOSS. Here's one presidential election the real estate community can close the book on.

Atlanta real estate veteran Bob Mathews has been sworn in as 2001 president of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, the country's first Commercial Board of Realtors.

The executive vice president at Colliers Cauble & Co. replaces the 2000 president, Leigh Martin of CB Richard Ellis.

TECH TOWN . Word is that Atlanta is now ranked the 13th city in the world best-positioned to reap the benefits of the "New Economy."

So said international economist and futurist Stephen Roulac at the 12th annual meeting of the Associated Foriegn Investors in Real Estate in Washington , D.C. Atlanta is ahead of 15th-ranked Chicago and right after 12th-ranked Seattle . The list is topped by New York .