Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises said Thursday it will break ground this year on a 600,000-square-foot office complex near Perimeter Mall, one of the most significant new office construction deals announced in metro Atlanta in the past couple of years.
The complex will house the technology operations of the company’s Cox Communications subsidiary, including the information technology, Internet and engineering staff.
More than 1,000 employees are expected to work at the new facility, which is near Cox headquarters, the company said. They will be relocated from properties currently being leased in Alpharetta and Dunwoody, among other locations. Construction is expected to be completed in 2012.
"It's a very significant deal," said Lanie Rea, research manager with Jones Lang LaSalle in Atlanta. The economy has taken a toll on commercial real estate and metro Atlanta has seen very few major deals in the past year.
Cox Communications is growing and wants to bring spread-out work groups together into one physical location, company officials said Thursday.
“Our company’s growth necessitates the construction of additional facilities,” Marybeth Leamer, Cox Enterprises executive vice president, administration and human resources, said in a statement. “This rings especially true for Cox Communications, which is ramping up its operations to soon launch next-generation wireless voice and Internet services. We’re excited to further develop our Central Park campus to meet their specific needs.”
Although Cox announced new leases for some of its properties last year, “This is our first new construction in quite awhile in metro Atlanta,” Cox spokesman Bobby Amirshahi said Thursday.
The construction site is a 28.8 acre tract of land known as Central Park, on the east side of Peachtree Dunwoody Road in Fulton County.
Cox Communications’ main facility, at nearby 1400 Lake Hearn Drive in DeKalb County, will continue to serve as headquarters for all its nontechnology department employees, the company said.
Last year Cox announced three major new real estate deals for its holdings. AutoTrader.com announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to one of the towers at Perimeter Summit, about a half-mile from its headquarters in Dunwoody.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced it would relocate its headquarters from its longtime home in downtown Atlanta to smaller, leased offices near Perimeter Mall.
Cox also agreed to lease about 95,000 square feet of office space at 9000 Central Park near Perimeter Mall, an office tower adjacent to Cox headquarters. The company said there were no specific plans for the four floors of office space but it would be used for some corporate functions.
Cox Enterprises is a communications, auto services and media company whose holdings include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB television and radio stations.
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