Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Downtown landmark foreclosed, sold

[marmar]

55 Allen Plaza bought by Lincoln Property for pension fund


By David Markiewicz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


The end of the Atlanta real estate development scene's heyday has been well chronicled in stories of sparsely occupied office buildings, vacant lots and near empty condominiums. The latest sobering chapter was written Tuesday morning in the shadowy chill on the Fulton County Courthouse steps.

Auctioned was 55 Allen Plaza, one part of a dream mega-project envisioned by prominent local developer Hal Barry. There were no takers, save for the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois, the pension fund that acquired the debt on the project last month from Bank of America.

Lincoln Property, a Dallas-based commercial real estate firm, acting on behalf of the teachers' fund, acquired the prime property for $57 million. That represents an eye-popping discount from the original $83 million loan, and stacks up as a bargain.

The four-year-old, 350,000-square-foot Class A office tower counts prime tenants, including Ernst & Young, Skanska and Cushman & Wakefield, and it has a noticeable visual presence overlooking the Downtown Connector. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/business/55-allen-plaza-bought-899383.html

[RT Atlanta]

1. Really interesting...

Skanska has an impressive LEED certified office within that building.

The W hotel adjacent to 55 was foreclosed late last year or earlier this year too.

There is a glut of new commercial office space in Atlanta - especially in Buckhead - and the condo market is extremely over-built.

Now... if they could just finish, or scrape back to dirt and plant grass, the "Streets of Buckhead," I will be very pleased - tired of seeing the giant cranes that are still in place at that construction site act as weather vanes for the past few years.

[Blue_Tires]

2. Developed way too much,way too fast

I lived in Atlanta in the 90s and I could see this coming then...