A financial technology company in Gwinnett County is moving its headquarters to Buckhead.
Fleetcor Technologies, which manages companies’ payments for fuel, tolls, lodging and other expenses, has signed a lease for 46,000 square feet of office space at Terminus 100, according to a Tuesday news release from the building’s owner, Cousins Properties.
Fleetcor is expected to take up its new location in the 27-story tower at Peachtree and Piedmont roads before the end of the year, according to the release. The Terminus complex is located near MARTA’s Buckhead station and in an emerging node of technology companies, including Amazon’s Atlanta hub and Atlanta Tech Village.
The announcement comes just two weeks after Gwinnett voters rejected a proposal to join MARTA, though it’s unclear whether the vote had any effect on Fleetcor’s planning. The company’s lease negotiations undoubtedly started long before Gwinnett’s MARTA vote.
But commercial real estate observers say transit access and the ability to recruit and retain high-demand technology talent is helping to fuel a boom in office leasing activity in Midtown and Buckhead.
“Companies are asking, ‘How can we participate in transit?’” said John Heagy, a senior managing director in Atlanta for development firm Hines, which was not involved in the Fleetcor deal.
Messages left for Fleetcor and its broker, Kevin Carroll at real estate services firm CBRE, were not immediately returned. Cousins officials declined to comment beyond the news release.
Fleetcor is currently based in a tree-lined office park off Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners. The company leases about 100,000 square feet of space at its current headquarters, according to its annual report to shareholders.
It’s unclear whether Fleetcor intends to vacate that space or retain offices there.
Fleetcor is following in the footsteps of fellow financial technology company NCR, which left Gwinnett for new offices in Midtown in recent years. NCR cited transit and a desire to tap into the faculty and student talent at Georgia Tech among the factors in its decision.
Like NCR, Fleetcor’s future headquarters will be within a short walk to a MARTA station.
In the release, Fleetcor Chairman and CEO Ron Clarke said Terminus is “a terrific property and will bring a fresh, new energy to our staff.”
Fleetcor is a Fortune 1000 company and reported 7,580 employees worldwide, including 2,590 in the United States, at the end of 2018.
Gwinnett County Chairman Charlotte Nash told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she didn’t have firsthand knowledge of Fleetcor’s plans.
"It is clear that more and more companies see transit as a factor in site decisions," she said. "As firms grapple with competition for talented employees, mobility options for that workforce is one way they are seeking an edge.
“The same holds true for communities,” she said. “Having robust transit options gives an edge to attract and keep businesses that provide good jobs for our residents.”
Staff writer Tyler Estep contributed to this article.
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