Want To Live At HQ? This Company Will Add Apartments To Its Campus

There are stories of office building conversions all around the country. Turning an unused office building into a residential tower can be a way to earn profits in a tough market. 

Georgia-Pacific, the company behind Brawny, Angel Soft, and other tissue brands, is taking a unique approach. The company isn’t leaving its home in Atlanta’s sixth-largest tower; instead, it’s turning some of its prime real estate into retail and apartments. The headquarters is located in a booming area at 133 Peachtree Street, near a subway stop and a mile from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

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The 51-story building is also the Atlanta office of its parent company, Koch Inc. It is located on the historic site of DeGive’s Grand Opera House, later the Loew’s Grand Theatre, where “Gone with the Wind” premiered in 1939. The pink granite building was built in 1982 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. 

The company will give some of its most desirable real estate to the conversion, turning the stories at the top into 400 apartment units while leaving 600,000 square feet of the building as office space. The company will also transform some of the Georgia-Pacific Center into 125,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment space and add a 35,000 square-foot central plaza.

The new apartments could be some of the highest in the region and are likely to fetch premium prices, although the company has not shared additional details on the apartment units. The company expects to complete the conversion by Fall 2027. The news release announcing the conversion also hinted at future development plans such as hotels and residences. 

Georgia-Pacific doesn’t plan to go it alone. It has amassed a team that includes Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio as the architect of record. A spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific told Bisnow that the company is looking for investors for the project. 

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"The office landscape has changed, and we recognize that the adaptive reuse of our site and office tower can create greater long-term value," said Georgia-Pacific CEO Christian Fischer in the release announcement. "We are also acutely aware of the need for more residential, shopping, dining, and entertainment options in our Downtown neighborhood."

The city is also on board with the project. “This transformative redevelopment is a significant step in moving Atlanta forward, turning an important block in the heart of the city into a vibrant and welcoming destination that breathes new life into downtown,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. Atlanta housing is at a premium, and Dickens aims to build 20,000 new affordable housing units by 2030.

Even though Atlanta is one of the top markets for corporate relocation, office real estate remains challenged. Colliers reported that the city saw some large leases inked during the second quarter, but the vacancy rate still hit a new high of 20%. 

Atlanta has a high apartment vacancy rate right now, as a large amount of multifamily supply has hit the market in recent months. The latest data from Zumper shows rents were down 6% from last month and 3% year over year. However, the city is expected to continue to grow. Any oversupply issues certain parts of the market may be experiencing now may be a distant memory by the time these new apartments are finished.

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