Mansion condos in flux as building is sold in foreclosure

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Condo sales at the Mansion on Peachtree are on hold as the building goes through ownership transition.

City Centre Properties When residents purchases a home at The Mansion on Peachtree, they receive two years of M.D. on Call services. Sales are currently on hold as the building goes through an ownership transition.

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The hotel was operating as usual Wednesday, but Tuesday the building, at 3376 Peachtree Road N.E., in Buckhead, was sold for $66.1 million. The building houses a 127-room luxury hotel, run by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, and more than 40 condos. Officials from iStar, a New York-based financial company and the building's new owner, did not return phone calls Wednesday.

David J. Burge, a local attorney for Smith Gambrell & Russell, represented iStar during the foreclosure sale and confirmed the transaction, but had no details about the company's plans for the property.

Atlanta-based City Centre Properties, the building's original owner, tried to renegotiate two loans totaling $187 million earlier this year. The building's 1.62 acres were purchased in 2004 for $10 million.

The focus now is on the building’s ownership, not selling condos, said Mike Bugg, senior vice president of SkyRise Group, a division of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty, which had an exclusive contract to market the homes.

He said there is interest in the building and he's spoken to some “well-known hoteliers and other entities who have expressed interest,” but declined to say with whom he'd spoken.

Bugg said there are approximately seven condos that have sold in the 42-story building, which was constructed in 2008 by John Williams, a well-known builder. Bugg's SkyRise Group is responsible for the only sale last year -- one of the penthouse units. The home, which is more than 8,000 square feet and two stories tall, sold this summer for approximately $4 million. The sale price was 60 percent less than the original $10 million asking price.