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.
The building, for which Lincoln will manage and handle the leasing, is 74 percent occupied.
Tony Bartlett, senior vice-president of Lincoln's Southeast Region, said the building has "unparalleled access and name recognition."
That's what Barry was banking on when planning his Allen Plaza project, an urban complex of office towers, condominiums, retail stores and restaurants. But the project, which was conceived during times of developer optimism, foundered when the economy collapsed. The W Hotel & Residences, one part of the project, previously was taken back by the senior lender on the project.
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