ATLANTA (Aug. 10, 2012) – Daniel Latshaw (top right photo), partner with Bull Realty, has brokered the sale of most of a city block in Midtown Atlanta that includes famed architect I. M. Pei’s first office building, located at 131 Ponce de Leon Ave.
The 2.5-acre site — bound by Ponce De Leon Avenue, North Avenue, Piedmont Avenue and Juniper Street — sold for $6.5 million on Aug. 3, 2012. The sale includes the entire block except for St Paul’s church, which was once home to the well-known Abbey restaurant.
The buyer is a joint venture between Sereo Group and Faison Enterprises Inc. According to submissions to a Midtown Development Review Committee meeting in July, the firms plan to develop a new mixed-use project that will include 321 luxury apartments and 8,600 square feet of retail space.
Latshaw represented the seller, developer Thirty Third Latitude Properties.
“There was tremendous interest with 10 competing offers,” said Michael Bull (lower left photo), president of Bull Realty and host of the Commercial Real Estate Show.
“The lenders, United Bank and Synovus Bank, were able to maximize their recovery by cooperating with the original developer to market the property. When you add the cost of demolition to the just-over-$59-per-square-foot land price, it’s a good sign for the commercial real estate recovery.”
The site had been entitled for a 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The video on Bull Realty’s web site provides an interesting look at the previous developer’s original plans for the property.
Latshaw is particularly excited about the new buyer’s plans to tie the old to the new. “The concept not only preserves the façade of the Pei building, but makes it a centerpiece of the design and celebrates Pei’s architecture and legacy,” Latshaw said.
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Wilbert News Strategies
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