HR firm’s new regional HQ wears Atlanta pride on its sleeve

Large companies often like to embed Easter eggs into their offices.

In metro Atlanta, that tends to look like conference rooms named after neighborhoods or streets and nods to lemon pepper wings. The latest regional headquarters to join Atlanta’s orbit takes the references up a notch, literally plastering its walls as an ode to its new home.

TriNet, a California-based human resources consulting firm, christened its new office campus in Dunwoody on Tuesday, a $15.4 million investment that will employ 750 workers by the end of this decade. The office space features multiple large murals commissioned by Atlanta-area artists, all of which make clear that the Capital of the South will become more important to the company’s long-term growth plans.

People tour the new TriNet office in Dunwoody on Aug. 18, 2026. It is one of the largest office announcements of the last few years and is an anchor for High Street. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

“In this process (of searching for a new regional headquarters), we started with a map of the country and looked at dozens and dozens of cities,” TriNet CEO Mike Simonds told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at his company’s ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

“Atlanta stood out,” he said.

TriNet announced in March 2025 it selected Dunwoody for its office project, committing to lease 150,000 square feet. It was one of last year’s largest office deals and provided a boost to the Central Perimeter office submarket, which grappled with an outsized glut of unwanted office space after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the market.

The company selected the $2 billion High Street development near Perimeter Mall as its landing spot, becoming the live-work-play district’s largest anchor office tenant. The first phase of the project by GID Development Group opened in late 2024, including two apartment buildings, about half the planned 670,000 square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet of other retail and dining space.

A view of the mixed-use High Street development in Dunwoody on Aug. 18, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

TriNet leased a temporary space in High Street for the past year while it built out its new regional headquarters, growing its Atlanta-area workforce to a few dozen employees. On Tuesday, Simonds said TriNet has more than 200 workers based at the Dunwoody campus, with plans to continue expanding to 750.

TriNet’s primary client base is small- and medium-sized businesses that need third-party HR consulting, a market that Simonds expects to grow.

“There’s so much opportunity in the small- to mid-size business space for TriNet,” he said. “Our bet generally is that every time a new disruptive technology comes along, it’s going to be the small business that moves quickest to take advantage of it.”

CEO and President Mike Simonds speaks at the opening of the new TriNet office in Dunwoody on Aug. 18, 2026. It is one of the largest office announcements of the last few years and is an anchor for High Street. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

He said artificial intelligence appears to be that next disruptive technology, boosting hiring for companies that are finding the best ways to leverage it. There are broad concerns that AI will lead to mass layoffs of white-collar workers, a claim even touted by multiple tech company executives, but Simonds said TriNet’s clients have shown the opposite result so far.

Dunwoody and the surrounding Central Perimeter area is Atlanta’s largest office submarket, although Midtown is quickly gaining ground. Because of its large roster of office buildings, Central Perimeter was exposed to the pandemic popularizing hybrid work schedules and stalling companies’ office leasing decisions.

Central Perimeter leads metro Atlanta in tearing down obsolete offices, resetting the real estate for other types of development such as residential. Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said companies like TriNet that are leasing lots of space are helping solve the problem the traditional way.

“Selfishly, my goal is to fill office space,” she said at TriNet’s ceremony. “But in the big picture way, we’re working to make Dunwoody the place you want to start a business.”

Simonds said employees have six flexible days per month where they can work remotely, while they’re expected to commute to Dunwoody the rest of the time.

Employees work at the new TriNet office in Dunwoody on Aug. 18, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

He said a compelling office space filled with artwork and “quick-jump spaces” to take calls and meetings is part of the puzzle, while providing close access to restaurants and off-the-clock fun helps even more. That message is music to Dunwoody leaders’ ears.