Transwestern seeks to restructure $50.5 Million Tower Place 200 loan
The owner of Tower Place 200 in Buckhead is reportedly trying to restructure a $50.5 million loan in an attempt to keep the office building from possibly going into foreclosure.
The 14-story building was purchased by Transwestern Investment Co. in 2006 for $57.7 million at a time when the values of commercial property in Buckhead were high and credit was easy to get. But now the vacancy rate at the 11-year-old building is at about 35 percent.
Buckhead is now overbuilt in office space, with four more new buildings in various stages of construction. Those will put pressure on Transwestern and other owners of existing buildings attempting to retain their tenants.
Chicago-based Transwestern is trying to restructure a $50.5 million securitized loan originated by Greenwich Capital Financial, which was used to finance the 2006 building purchase and matures in 2011. Transwestern reportedly is in default on the loan, but may have skipped a payment to trigger discussions with the lender.
Tishman Speyer Inc., Duke Realty Corp. and Pope & Land Enterprises Inc., Cousins Properties Inc. and Manulife Financial each have a new Buckhead office tower that is either near completion or scheduled to be finished next year.
III Forks no longer bound to Terminus 200
The 25-story, 565,000-square-foot Terminus 200 office building opened last month as part of the Cousins Properties Terminus development at Peachtree and Piedmont roads; but it apparently will not be getting the upscale III Forks steakhouse as originally planned.
Word has it though that Dallas-based Consolidated Restaurant Operations Inc., which owns the III Forks brand, now is in talks to bring another of its brands to Terminus 200, its Cantina Laredo gourmet Mexican concept.
If the deal is finalized, Cantina Laredo would join AquaKnox, BrickTops, The Flying Biscuit Café, LOLA Bellini Bar & Restaurant and MF Buckhead in the Terminus complex.
However, there also are a number of other restaurants interested in the space where III Forks was to have gone.
Crunch Fitness may close in Buckhead
Crunch Fitness International Inc., which currently is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, may close its fitness center at Tower Place in Buckhead, the firm’s only remaining location in metro Atlanta.
Crunch CEO Tim Miller did not confirm the fitness center will close its doors, but did say letters went out to members that the site may close.
Documents filed Aug. 14 as part of the bankruptcy indicate Crunch approved the sale of the Buckhead Club, authorizing the assumption and assignment of membership and personnel agreements and rejecting lifetime and other membership agreements. Crunch had closed its Parkway Pointe location in Cobb County in April.
Tremont leases 40% in first 60 days
Tremont City Living, one of Buckhead’s newest mixed-use developments at the intersection of Habersham and Roswell roads, has leased nearly 40 percent of its 78 residential apartment units in the first 60 days of being open.
Patti Pearlberg, vice president and asset manager for Coro Realty Advisors, LLC, the developers of Tremont City Living, attributed leasing success to the development being in a walkable urban neighborhood, the variety of 34 home plans that range from flats to townhomes—many with street front entrances—and “the EarthCraft Home Certification creates monthly energy savings and efficiencies for today’s environmentally concerned residents.”
Pearlberg added, “These investments are paying off and we are seeing market acceptance and success despite the difficult economic climate.”
For more information about Tremont City Living visit: www.tremontcityliving.com or call 404.446.1515.
Oracle may be leaving Financial Center
Oracle Corp., the world’s second-largest software company, may be leaving Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead to consolidate offices at North Park Town Center, the office complex at Abernathy Road and Georgia 400 in Sandy Springs.
Oracle reportedly also has been scouring Buckhead for up to 100,000 square feet, but many of its employees apparently commute to Buckhead from outside the Perimeter and wanted new offices closer to home. Oracle already has an operations center and data center at North Park Town Center.
Fadó food sales to help fight cancer
During September, Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant in Buckhead will donate 20 percent food sales every Thursday to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation—to help fight childhood cancer—for customers who bring in the St. Baldrick’s flyer, which is available online at www.fadoirishput.com.
Fado, located at 273 Buckhead Ave., also partners each year with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for its worldwide head-shaving event to raise money for child cancer research. The September program is in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
The funds raised are distributed by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in the form of grants, fellowships and scholarships, to further childhood cancer research funding.
Buckhead’s Uncle Julio’s opening 2nd
The Atlanta area’s second Uncle Julio’s restaurant, which features Mexican food, is coming to Perimeter Town Center, 1140 Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs. The 10,479-square-foot restaurant, which is scheduled for completion in November, will seat 296 diners.
Uncle Julio’s other Atlanta location is the Uncle Julio’s Casa Grande at 1860 Peachtree Road in Buckhead. Uncle Julio’s Corp. operates 14 restaurants in five major metropolitan markets: Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, Boca Raton, Fla., Washington D.C. and Atlanta.
Real estate firm promotes Barton
Harry Norman Realtors has named Marianna Barton the company’s director of marketing and communications. Barton will oversee the corporate marketing department, day-to-day marketing activities and special marketing initiatives.
Barton began her real estate career as an agent with Cottingham-Chalk Realtors in Charlotte, N.C. In 1997, she moved to Atlanta and served as a marketing associate for Buckhead Brokers. In 2000, Barton joined Jenny Pruitt & Associates. This year Jenny Pruitt & Associates merged operations with Harry Norman Realtors, and Barton was selected to lead the company’s marketing efforts.
Cardiologist selected for fellowship
Buckhead resident Scott Gatlin is among the top cardiologists who have been selected for the Cardiology Fellowship Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine for expert training in pediatric cardiology.
The Cardiology Fellowship Program at Children’s offers training that will prepare Gatlin and the other fellows to provide leading-edge therapies to children throughout the country.