Georgia Aquarium Articles ...

THE ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
8/14/03
Developers to buy big downtown site
By DAVID PENDERED



Two developers are poised to buy a prominent piece of land in downtown Atlanta and alter the city's skyline with what could be residential and office towers.

"The site is under contract to two separate buyers and we expect both to close by year-end," said David Branch, the Advantis Commercial Real Estate Services broker who originally listed the site for sale in September 1997.

Branch said a confidentiality agreement with the potential buyers prevents him from identifying them. But he said both are "very capable" of financing the purchase.

A developer familiar with the deal said the two buyers are condo developer Jim Borders and commercial developer Hal Barry, chairman of Barry Real Estate Cos.

The 6.7-acre site covers three city blocks stretching from Williams Street to MARTA's Civic Center station on West Peachtree Street. The largest undeveloped tract in the central business district, the site now is covered with garages and asphalt lots that charge as little as a dollar a day.

Barry said he did not want to discuss the project. The site overlooks new condo developments adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, the new Georgia Aquarium and planned site of a new home for the World of Coca-Cola.

"We work with different clients at different times," Barry said. "It doesn't do us any good to get our names associated with deals that aren't done."

However, Barry said he's bullish on downtown, Midtown and Buckhead. Barry said a report today from Lend Lease Corp., a real estate investment company, says Atlanta will lead the nation in job growth through 2010. "That's why we're hustling over here," he said.

He is said to be looking for a site to offer Southern Co., which is seeking a new headquarters.

Borders, president of Novare Group, already has been active in downtown and Midtown. He has sold about 80 of the 101 condos in his Centennial House condo that is across Williams Street from the site now in play.

In addition, all 498 condos in the Metropolis towers Borders built on Peachtree Street in Midtown have sold within a year of their opening. He is hoping to start construction on a 21-story tower on Pharr Road in Buckhead in the next few months.

The last option on the site was held by Texas-based Hines Interests, which in 1999 announced an ambitious plan for office towers, residences and retail space on what has been dubbed Centennial Hill. Hines dropped the option last year after failing to sign an anchor tenant.

Hines said the site was one of two finalists for a new corporate office of Norfolk Southern Corp. But the railroad firm's move has been delayed in part because of the state's indecision about buying its current offices as part of a deal to turn a downtown gulch into a bus and train station.

The property, which has been on the market for more than $20 million, was assembled years ago in a speculative venture to attract a big development. Branch said that remains the plan.

"It's zoned for very high-density development," Branch said.

Staff writer Tony Wilbert contributed to this article.



© 2002 Atlanta-Journal Constitution