FOCUS Brands to lease entire MidCity Plaza for New Headquarters
Class A Building at I-285 and GA 400 completely restored by MidCity Real Estate Partners; long-term lease just secured for FOCUS Brands new Corporate Headquarters Atlanta – March 16, 2015 – FOCUS Brands, Inc. today announced their multi-year lease of the entire MidCity Plaza building, an extensively renovated, Class A property located at I-285 and GA 400. Formerly occupied by Crawford & Company, FOCUS Brands will relocate their corporate headquarters to the new location later this year. FOCUS Brands is the parent company of Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, and Moe’s Southwest Grill, among other top concepts, and will exclusively occupy the 63,000-square-foot building. The property was purchased by MidCity Real Estate Partners in mid-2013 and was completely converted to Class A standards over the course of a nearly two-year-long process. The office building is part of a mixed-use development including five restaurants and Class A apartments. Since purchasing the vacant office building at 5620 Glenridge Dr., MidCity Real Estate Partners thoroughly overhauled the property, including converting the entire lower level of the office building with approximately 50 reserved, covered, gated parking spaces with direct access via elevators to the upper floors. Exterior renovations to the base building included new windows and a new entrance. The interiors are entirely new including new bathrooms, lobbies and HVAC systems. Following the conversion, the building now has a high parking ratio exceeding five parking places per 1,000 square feet of space, with more than 200 of the parking spaces as covered parking. Kirk Demetrops, president of MidCity, cited MidCity Plaza’s mixed-use nature, location, and high parking ratio as particularly compelling attractions. The mixed-use development includes the Windsor at Glenridge, 168 luxury apartments developed by Wood Partners as well as restaurants Blue Moon Pizza, Taziki’s, Firehouse Subs, Qdoba and Sushi Nami. “We positioned MidCity Plaza to meet the priorities of today’s office users, this includes the ability for open and efficient floor plans, amenities on site, access, visibility and building signage” said Demetrops. “FOCUS Brands is an ideal fit for this building. We are very excited they have chosen MidCity Plaza for their headquarters.” “The timing of this building renovation was perfect for us,” said FOCUS Brands CEO Steve DeSutter. “Our business is growing at a rapid pace, and we needed an office environment that could keep up with our ambitious goals and our collaborative operating style,” said DeSutter. “The location, amenities and potential offered by MidCity Plaza give us exactly what we need to take our company to the next level, and I’m thrilled to be working with the MidCity Team.” The MidCity Plaza Team MidCity Real Estate Partners retained Glenn Kolker and Preston Menning of Cassidy Turley to lease the building and Childress Klein Properties to manage the project. Chris Wagner with JLL represented FOCUS. The Cooper Carry-designed building delivered in 1978 and served as Crawford & Company’s headquarters until they vacated in 2007. The surface parking spaces that served the building originally were redeveloped into the retail space and apartments adjacent to the building/ MidCity Real Estate Partners hire Gene Montezinos with PFVS as the base building architect. Prior to joining PFVS, Montezinos was with TVS, where he designed many Class A office buildings in Atlanta, including the Concourse, the UPS World Headquarters and Glenridge Highlands. MidCity Real Estate Partners – High Profile Projects MidCity Plaza is MidCity Real Estate Partners’ second significant Central Perimeter office redevelopment. In October 2012, MidCity acquired five buildings on 8.5 acres from Cousins Properties Inc. at GA 400 and Hammond Drive. That project, known as Hammond 400, includes a new building developed for the Thomas Eye Group. More recently, in early 2015, the city of Alpharetta...
read more$80M ‘City Center’ could transform Alpharetta
The development team, led by Atlanta-based MidCity Real Estate Partners and Morris & Fellows, is finalizing arrangements with capital partners. The project could include 220 housing units, 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and 33,000 square feet of office. It’s an extension of the $30 million first phase of the Alpharetta City Center project that is anchored by city hall. This Article Originally Ran In The Atlanta Business Chronicle For More, Please Click...
read moreIs a new city vision taking shape on Roswell Road?
Across the street, in the 6000 block of Roswell Road, developer Kirk Demetrops with MidCity Partners is requesting a zoning change for the property, where a seven-story office building and Bank of America stand. According to Demetrops, Bank of America has been issued a building permit to construct a new branch where KFC and Checkers were located, adjacent to the proposed development. If rezoning is approved by Sandy Springs City Council, the MidCity Partners development could include a mix of office, retail and residential. That project is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on Jan. 15 and the council on Feb. 17. This Article Originally Ran In The Sandy Springs Reporter For More, Please Click Here and Turn to Page...
read moreHighwoods adds One Alliance for $140 Million
Highwoods Properties Inc. continues expanding its portfolio of intown trophy office towers. Highwoods (NYSE: HIW) has acquired One Alliance Center, a 20-story building in Buckhead, an affluent section north of downtown Atlanta that’s filled with the city’s densest concentration of luxury shopping, and several of its largest investment banking firms and commercial real estate companies. The Raleigh, N.C.-based real estate investment trust paid about $140 million for the 22-story tower. Its total investment is expected to be $143.4 million, or $259 per square foot. That includes the purchase price and $2.9 million in building and tenant improvements committed under existing leases… MidCity buys former Crawford HQ MidCity Real Estate Partners is expanding its presence in the metro region’s largest and most active office submarket… Originally Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read More...
read moreMidCity buys former Crawford HQ
MidCity Real Estate Partners is expanding its presence in the metro region’s largest and most active office submarket. MidCity has acquired the former Crawford & Co. building at the Perimeter and Georgia 400 for $3.1 million, or $36 a square foot. The building has been vacant since Crawford & Co. relocated in 2007. MidCity plans to completely restore the 85,000-square-foot former headquarters. Additional investment could exceed $7 million… Originally Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read More...
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