Atlanta’s northern suburbs are awash with decades-old office parks, effectively islands of cubicle-containing buildings surrounded by seas of parking lots.
Many of those office complexes have sat half-empty since the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the hybrid work era. In Alpharetta, city leaders identified some of their struggling office parks that could be prime redevelopment opportunities, and one of those efforts is on the cusp of coming to fruition.
Atlanta-based developer Portman Holdings — known for building many of downtown’s landmark office towers and hotels — intends to redevelop roughly 20 acres of the Brookside office park near Old Milton Parkway. Early-stage plans include preserving an existing office building, razing a sister building and constructing nearly 450 homes and new commercial spaces.
Mike Greene, Portman’s vice president of development, said its difficult to find suburban office parks, often called commodity offices, that are suitable for mixed-use conversion. But he said the Alpharetta property ticks a lot of necessary boxes.
“The buildings are in great shape, and we can save 50% of the office while still adding residential and retail surrounding it,” Greene said in an email. “The balance of uses will make for a very healthy project that stays leased and contributes to the community as a great place to live, work or visit.”
Credit: Courtesy Google Maps
Credit: Courtesy Google Maps
Portman is under contract to acquire the property at 3625 Brookside Parkway from Bridge Commercial Real Estate for an undisclosed amount. Bridge acquired it in May 2021 for $41 million, according to Fulton County records.
The project’s preliminary details were disclosed Monday in a state infrastructure assessment called a Development of Regional Impact filing. The final project could include 130,000 square feet of office space — half of what currently exists on the site — alongside 350 apartments, 90 townhomes and 60,000 square feet of retail space.
Located near Brookside Park and the Big Creek Greenway, the sprawling office park was predominantly built in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Converting old office parks into live-work-play communities is catching on across the metro area. One of the best known examples is Medley in neighboring Johns Creek, where Toro Development Co. plans to turn an old State Farm campus into a true city center for the north Fulton bedroom community.
The Brookside office park’s core design as a series of stand-alone office buildings has become outdated, said Mark Toro, the developer who worked on Alpharetta’s Avalon and is developing Medley.
“North Fulton is littered with these suburban office buildings that we call a fried egg,” he said. “It’s a building (the yolk) and then the sea of parking surrounding it (the egg whites). People just don’t want that.”
City leaders in Alpharetta realized Brookside’s time as a standalone office park was limited. In 2022, the city adopted a master plan to evaluate redeveloping about 155 acres of office parks along Brookside Parkway, stretching from roughly North Point Parkway to Park Bridge Parkway.
More than a third of the area is surface parking, and the city envisions the redeveloped district connecting to the Big Creek Greenway. It also houses Georgia State University’s Alpharetta campus.
Credit: Courtesy City of Alpharetta
Credit: Courtesy City of Alpharetta
“Portman’s mixed-use plan provides a unique opportunity next to the Georgia State campus and catalyzes future growth in one of the priority areas designated for redevelopment,” Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin said in an email.
Part of the broader redevelopment vision was approved last month. Alpharetta City Council greenlit a 160-townhome development by Providence Group on a 10-acre site at 3750 Brookside Parkway, northwest of Portman’s site.
During the mid-November meeting, Gilvin said the Brookside office district’s vacancy rate is about 33%, according to Appen Media. That figure is above average for metro Atlanta, which is suffering through historically high amounts of empty and unwanted office space.
Portman will need the property rezoned to allow for its development plan. If approved, the developer expects to complete its project by 2029.
“We look forward to reviewing the details and working with Portman Holdings and the public to see how the development will encourage a more walkable, connected and livable environment,” Gilvin said.
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