Cousins’ American Cancer Society Center Becoming Data Center and Technology Hub in Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA– Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) will help meet the surging demand for data center and IT operation space with a downtown Atlanta building that once housed the headquarters of the 1996 Olympic Games.

Cousins is repurposing 170,000 square feet inside 250 Williams Street, also known as the American Cancer Society Center (middle right photo), from offices into data center space that will host computer servers and other hardware that power websites, crunch data and store information.

The moves should attract even more data centers to downtown Atlanta, a growing technology submarket. Regionwide, metro Atlanta already has parlayed its robust fiber infrastructure and a reliable power grid to snag more than 50 centers.

To attract new technology tenants to 250 Williams Street, Cousins has entered into a relationship with Colliers Technology Solutions. The Colliers team is skilled at understanding the high-tech needs of CIOs and their companies, including data center services.

The team is led by Tim Huffman (middle left photo), executive vice president and global director of the technology division, who has years of experience in data centers and managed services.

The one-million-square-foot American Cancer Society Center already is on the Georgia Power Fowler Network underground grid system, which has been a highly reliable source of power.

It also sits on a fiber ring with N+1 redundancy and features extensive fiber optics in all corners of the building. The building also is served by more than 27 fiber network providers, who supply the IP network infrastructure that is critical to data center operations.

Technology users have multiple locations for back-up generators, ample fuel storage and an advanced security system. The building can support IT operations with a 100-pound floor load per square foot, 12 to 14 foot ceiling heights, and multiple freight elevators and loading docks. These amenities could be considered surprising for an urban, non-industrial building in the heart of downtown Atlanta.

Purpose-built by John Portman & Associates, the nine-story building opened in 1989 as a computer mart, and was used by IBM and HP to display computer products. It later became Class A offices for Bellsouth.

 The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games chose the building for its headquarters, and for good reason: It’s located across the street from Centennial Olympic Park (lower left photo), the nexus of entertainment venues for the Games. InComm and Internap are both longtime tenants.

Contact:

Suzanne Rutledge

Jackson Spalding for Cousins Properties

 SRutledge@jacksonspalding.com

Final Plans Call For New 42-Story Condo In Miami's Brickell Area

 MIAMI, FL -- After months of industry speculation, Miami’s largest vertical condo developer - the Related Group with Jorge Perez (top right photo) - has formally announced plans to build a second condo tower in the Brickell Avenue Area of Greater Downtown Miami, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Originally rumored to be a sequel to the proposed 28-story MyBrickell condo project with 192 units on Southeast Sixth Street, the final plans for the second condo tower – dubbed the 1100 Millecento Residences (middle left rendering)- call for 42 floors with 382 units at 1100 S. Miami Ave., according to a company statement.

With the 1100 Millecento project, the Related Group has publicly announced plans to develop seven condo towers with nearly 1,500 units – plus hotel rooms - in the tricounty South Florida region, according to the CondoVultures.com Preconstruction Condo Projects list.

“The Related Group has a three-decade-long history of identifying and developing for residential niches in South Florida,” said Peter Zalewsk (lower right photo)i, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

“To see the Related Group announce a series of new condo towers stretching from Greater Downtown Miami to Downtown West Palm Beach in the last year suggests there is a strong demand going forward for new residential units that are appropriately priced.

“If the existing condo units from the recent South Florida crash continue to be consumed at a steady pace, the Related Group could be well positioned to capitalize on the region’s next building boom.”

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based at 1005 Kane Concourse, Suite 205, Bal Harbour, Florida, 33154. You can reach Condo Vultures® LLC at 800-750-0517.

Marcus & Millichap Arranges $35.75 Million Multifamily Portfolio Sale in Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has sold the Tempo Portfolio (top left photo), a 12-property 1,188-unit multifamily portfolio located on Buford Highway NE and Lenox Road NE in Atlanta.

The sales price was $35,752,395.

Paul Vetter (middle right photo) and Andrew Mays (middle left photo), vice presidents investments in the Atlanta office of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, Atlanta-based Tempo Properties. Vetter and Mays also represented the buyer, a prominent national real estate company based in Yakima, Wash. that currently owns more than 2,000 units in metro Atlanta. 

“The long-term investment appeal of the properties in this portfolio is primarily their outstanding locations,” says Vetter. “All are located within a one-mile radius of each other. The most notable site is Parkway Apartments, which is located at the intersection of Buford Highway and Lenox Road in Buckhead,” adds Vetter.

“In addition to their prime locations, the properties offer tremendous upside through new management, capital improvements, repairs and renovations,” says Mays. “The properties were held by the previous owner for between 30 and 40 years.

“Prior to our getting this transaction to an agreed upon LOI, the portfolio had been under contract with another buyer and an intermediary other than Marcus & Millichap,” Vetter continues. “The portfolio became available at the right time for both of our clients and we were able to close within 60 days.”

The properties in the portfolio are:

• Cabana Apartments, 33 buildings, 135 units (lower right photo) 
• Cross Keys Apartments, 16 buildings, 64 units (lower left photo) 
• Hallmark Apartments, 12 buildings, 154 units
• Parkway Apartments, 10 buildings, 111 units
• Tempo 2000 Apartments, 11 buildings, 128 units
• Continental Apartments I and II, 10 buildings, 158 units
• Dover Station Apartments, 13 buildings, 135 units
• Majestic I, seven buildings, 72 units
• Majestic II, three buildings, 62 units
• Monaco Apartments, eight buildings, 60 units
• Montego Apartments, 11 buildings, 108 units

“The Atlanta apartment market appears to be well positioned for additional declines in vacancy and steady rent growth over the next several quarters as the number of new construction starts remains historically low and prospective single-home buyers face stringent mortgage underwriting, high down payments and stagnant incomes that will keep them in rental housing for the foreseeable future,” Vetter concludes.

The Tempo Portfolio sale is part of a strong first quarter of metro Atlanta multifamily property sales for Mays and Vetter.

 In addition to the 12 properties in the Tempo Portfolio, the pair has brokered four other local transactions so far in 2012, including Bryton Hill, a 204-unit apartment property situated in the heart of the same submarket as the Tempo Portfolio: the intersection of Buford Highway and Clairmont Road. Bryton Hill sold for $6,625,000. The buyer was New York-based Peak Capital Partners.

The other three properties the two have transacted since the first of the year are 170-unit Water Vistas, Highland Woods, which has 224 units and 216-unit Falcon Ridge.

Contact: Stacey Corso, Public Relations Manager, (925) 953-1716