The Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday approved the $33.9 million purchase of an 18-story building in the heart of Georgia State University’s downtown Atlanta campus.
The former office tower at 100 Edgewood Ave. NE is located across from Hurt Park and served as the United Way of Greater Atlanta’s corporate offices until 2017.
The university plans to use the building for academic programs that are in high demand and is also exploring other uses such as ground-level retail and “revenue-generating events,” according to board documents.
The Georgia State University Foundation purchased the site in 2022 for $29.56 million from a Florida-based real estate firm that acquired it three years before for $17.65 million, according to Fulton County property records.
The Board of Regents, which oversees Georgia State and the University System of Georgia’s 25 other public colleges, agreed to buy the property from the school’s foundation.
The previous owner began a renovation of the building, which was constructed in the 1960s, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted that work, according to information shared with the board. Sandra Neuse, the University System’s vice chancellor for real estate and facilities, told the board that most of the interior finishes have been removed and there are limited plumbing and electrical connections.
Georgia State plans to raise donations to update the building using private dollars. The renovation is expected to take about five years, according to board documents. The school’s spokeswoman, Andrea Jones, said a budget for the project has yet to be determined.
The site is one of the largest within the boundaries of Georgia State’s downtown campus. It’s also strategically located between its academic buildings and housing corridor, Neuse said.
The university has expanded its downtown presence in recent years, adding properties and building new spaces, including a Convocation Center on Capitol Avenue that opened last year.
The board also approved several other projects, including the construction of a $35.8 million West Campus parking deck off South Church Street at the University of Georgia. It will feature nearly 1,100 parking spaces and will be built on a surface parking lot that currently has room for 176 spaces, adding a net gain of about 900 parking spots.
Georgia Southern University’s Wiggins Baseball Facility will be demolished and replaced with a larger, $10 million baseball facility that contains office space, batting and pitching areas, a training room, locker rooms and other spaces. The Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation is raising money for that project.
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