Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the square footage of 35 Glenlake Parkway NE.
Shipping giant UPS recently vacated an office building next to its Sandy Springs headquarters, relocating hundreds of employees and adding more empty workspace to a market flooded with offices in limbo.
The Fortune 500 logistics firm confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution it closed its operations in 35 Glenlake Parkway NE, a five-story building. A company spokesperson said the decision is part of the company “executing the largest network reconfiguration in UPS history, including closing select buildings.”
UPS said no jobs were lost as a result of the move, which involved roughly 500 employees relocating to an Alpharetta building or the company’s headquarters at 55 Glenlake Parkway.
The shuttered building, which was first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, comes during unprecedented times for UPS, one of metro Atlanta’s largest companies.
The company made waves in early 2024 as one of the largest companies at the time to implement a full in-office policy for all employees five days a week.
It also announced last week it’s offering buyouts to drivers for the first time ever amid global trade tensions and rising competition with e-commerce stalwarts like Amazon. It also closed 73 buildings during this year’s second quarter, including 35 Glenlake Parkway.
Built in 1983, the building includes 133,497 square feet of office space.
Tower Square, the region’s eighth-tallest building, is by far the largest empty tower, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. But 35 Glenlake Parkway still adds a sizable amount of empty space to a cluttered market, which also includes large vacant blocks at the former CNN Center and Buckhead’s 575 Morosgo Drive.
Metro Atlanta’s office market has struggled since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic with a glut of unwanted space, spurred by the popularization of hybrid and remote work schedules. Some unwanted buildings have been torn down, others have been converted into more desirable uses and more sit empty awaiting new life — trying to stave off foreclosure.
UPS owns 35 Glenlake Parkway and its surrounding 7 acres, which is assessed at $12.2 million by Fulton County. Future plans for the property were not disclosed, but the Chronicle said it’s a prime redevelopment target.
Some suburban office properties have been torn down in recent years because the land they sit on is more valuable than unwanted workspace. The empty UPS building is across Ga. 400 from Embassy Row, a multi-building office complex that was sold amid loan distress in 2023 and is partially being demolished to make way for new apartments.
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