Future looks uncertain for developer Griffin Co.

The Griffin Co., the Sandy Springs-based real estate development company, apparently is going through a potential reorganization at the least and could be dissolved, according to rumors on the street, after the unexpected death of founder Joel Griffin in late February. Among the rumors in the past week were that the company’s office was being closed, that there had been many layoffs and that Kirk Demetrops, who was named president of the company last fall, was no longer running the company… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...

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Developer Griffin dies at 62

A great visionary. Committed to his community. A true professional. An engaging, self-made man. A tremendous dreamer. Those were terms used to describe fifth-generation Atlantan and Sandy Springs civic and business leader Joel Justin Griffin, 62, who died of a heart attack at home Feb. 27. Griffin started Sandy Springs-based The Griffin Co. in 1975 to develop neighborhood shopping centers. In the early 1980s, the company pioneered office condominiums and developed six office condominium parks, totaling more than 850,000 square feet, and the landmark 20-story, 350,000-square-foot office condominium The Peachtree in Midtown… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...

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Shipping firm forwards city $20M gift: Its Headquarters

JAS Forwarding Worldwide has purchased a 6.34-acre site on Barfield Road in Sandy Springs from The Griffin Co. for the relocation of its North American and worldwide headquarters from College Park south of Atlanta. The site, which is part of the former Cosmopolitan North office complex, includes three buildings at 6165, 6195 and 6205 Barfield Road that will be renovated — including new exteriors, building systems and interiors — for the freight-forwarding company’s 90,000-square-foot headquarters. Griffin Construction Services Inc., which along with its parent, The Griffin Co., is based at 800 Mount Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs, will be the general contractor of the more than $20 million state-of-art JAS corporate campus project, which will include the three two-story buildings, a walking and jogging trail, and lodging for some business travelers. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...

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Griffin plans City Centre development

Sandy Springs native Joel Griffin’s development company, The Griffin Company, plans to build MainStreet Sandy Springs, the first major mixed-use residential/retail/office project on Roswell Road, in the heart of the area city officials have designated as the city’s Town Centre. The $75 million project, on a 5.24 –acre site in the 6000 block of Roswell Road that includes the Bank of America building, will include 75,000 square feet of professional office space, 50,000 square feet of retail shop space and 280 luxury residences. Griffin said the plaza along the drive in from Roswell Road will be a focal point of the development… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...

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Developers, users cozy up to condominiums

The benefits of owning their own buildings, combined with a lack of single-user facilities for sale, is driving demand for office, office/warehouse and (to a limited extent) retail condominiums among Atlanta-area businesses. Developers, meanwhile, often find working this niche of the property market more profitable in submarkets where, although occupancy is healthy, rents may be low… Farther north, The Griffin Co. sold out its 11,600-square-foot 50 Old Ivy office development in Buckhead upon completion last summer. Meanwhile, half of the 90,000 square feet of office on tap for its planned Centennial Walk mixed-use development in Roswell will be of the for-sale variety, according to Griffin Senior Vice President Kirk Demetrops… Originally Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read More...

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