Long-stalled revamp of Midtown office tower moving forward under new plans

A rendering of the renovated Campanile building at the corner of 14th and Peachtree.

Credit: Courtesy/Dewberry Group

Credit: Courtesy/Dewberry Group

A rendering of the renovated Campanile building at the corner of 14th and Peachtree.

The renovation of a large office tower built in the 1980s at a busy Midtown intersection has stalled for years, but developers say they are once again moving forward with new development plans.

The Dewberry Group presented an application last week to the Midtown Development Review Committee for the revamp of the Campanile building at 1155 Peachtree St., at the corner of 14th and Peachtree.

Updated plans call for six new floors to be built at the top of the tower, which is currently 21 stories, including two roof terraces. The outside wall of the building is set to be replaced with new stone and glass siding, and an old plaza will be turned into a larger, open space with steps going down to 14th Street.

Developers hope to add 265,000 square feet of office space and 39,000 square feet of retail, with 178 underground parking spots.

The committee, which makes formal recommendations to the city on Midtown zoning applications, was supportive of the project and requested more details about the streetlighting plans and plaza design.

It’s not the first time Dewberry has presented plans for the Campanile; the committee also heard details about the expansion in 2018 and 2020.

Since then, the building has become an eyesore as plans lagged, with weeds growing through a chain-link fence, and sheets of protective plastic wrap peeling off the building’s exterior.

Dewberry has been awarded millions of dollars in tax breaks, but the project has hit financial snags. Last year a $186 million loan secured by the Campanile tower was recently sold as “non-performing,” meaning the lender considered the loan in distress. Liens piled up as the project came to a halt. The city of Atlanta filed a complaint labeling the renovation “abandoned.”

John Dewberry, the founder and CEO of the development company, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year that the renovation was on track and that 14th and Peachtree would be “ground zero of Atlanta” once the project is complete.

— J. Scott Trubey contributed to this report.