Skyline: GSU buys more property in Alpharetta

Georgia State University is expanding its presence in Alpharetta, 27 miles from its downtown campus.

GSU bought 16.6 acres contiguous to its Alpharetta Center on Old Milton Parkway and plans to build there, spokeswoman DeAnna Hines said.

The property cost $4.16 million, or $250,000 an acre, according to Databank. The technology supplier Radiant Systems, which is headquartered in Alpharetta, sold excess land next to GSU’s property.

Hines said a new academic building will go on the site. The Board of Regents approved the purchase last summer.

GSU is primarily a downtown school but has operated since 2000 in Alpharetta, where it has 18 classrooms, an electronic library and a computer lab. Georgia Perimeter College also uses the facility.

Ron Willingham and Pierce Owings of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.

Downtown strong on office space

Thanks to downtown’s strong performance, Atlanta’s central business district saw positive net absorption of office space for the fourth quarter and the year, while the suburbs did not, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Year-to-date absorption for the central business district —- downtown, Midtown, Buckhead —- was 270,414 square feet, Jones Lang LaSalle says. The equivalent number for the suburbs was minus-555,061.

Absorption is the difference between move-ins and move-outs. With the country in a recession, landlords are struggling to fill new space as many tenants decide to stay put.

Downtown led the way with year-to-date net absorption of 627,529 square feet, Jones Lang LaSalle says, offsetting negative numbers in Buckhead and Midtown.

Richard Bowers & Co. reported downtown was the positive-absorption leader for the fourth quarter, but that five other markets also did well: Airport/South (97,544 square feet), Buckhead/Lenox (95,038 square feet), I-285/I-85/Northlake (58,982 square feet), and I-285/Ga. 400 corridors (50,896 square feet).

Average rental rates per square foot remained essentially flat throughout Atlanta from the third quarter to the fourth —- $21.64 and $21.66, respectively, the Bowers report says.

Fritti building offered for sale

The 58-year-old building housing Fritti, the popular gourmet pizza restaurant in Inman Park, is for sale for $2.5 million.

The 7,427-square-foot property, at Elizabeth Street and North Highland Avenue, also contains office space.

A flurry of construction has resulted in new homes, shops and restaurants along the North Highland corridor in Inman Park. The projects include Inman Park Village and the N. Highland Steel apartments.

Inman Park Properties owns 309 N. Highland. The broker is Gene Kansas of Cross Town Realty.

TODAY’S BIG NUMBER

$12.8: in millions, what Amli Residential paid for 6.75 acres at Mansell Road and North Point Parkway, near North Point Mall. The plan is to begin construction this year on 366 apartments.

Source: Databank

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