The new owners of Bank of America Plaza are pumping millions of dollars into Atlanta’s tallest tower to modernize it, and those high hopes start way below the 55-story building’s iconic gold-leaf spire.
Florida real estate firm CP Group announced last week it broke ground on an overhaul of the iconic office building’s lobby and ground floor. The developer is partnering with San Francisco-based architecture firm Gensler to turn the tower’s public area into a contemporary 20,000-square-foot lobby accompanied by a coffee bar and art gallery.
Credit: CP Group
Credit: CP Group
The Bank of America Plaza refresh comes as Atlanta office landlords face their most difficult operating environment since the Great Recession. Office availability — both in terms of direct vacancy and space available for sublease — is at an all-time modern Atlanta high. Companies have cut their space needs since the pandemic and amid the rise of hybrid work schedules. Landlords, meanwhile, face cutthroat competition for tenants and a difficult lending environment marked by higher interest rates.
The project is part of a $50 million improvement campaign that CP Group launched shortly after acquiring Bank of America Plaza last year. In addition to the new amenities, the development team revealed a new slogan for the building, nicknaming it “The South Star” with the goal of renewing interest and prestige in one of Atlanta’s skyline-defining towers.
“Our design aims to reconnect the tower to the pedestrian and street activity,” Kevin Songer, co-managing director for Gensler Atlanta and head of the Bank of America Plaza project, said in a news release. “We wanted to bring the ‘golden glow’ from the building top to the ground level.”
Credit: CP Group
Credit: CP Group
Built in 1992, the 1,023-foot-tall structure was originally designed as the headquarters of Atlanta’s C&S Bank. In the decades since, the building underwent a few name changes, endured the bank mergers that formed Bank of America and became Atlanta’s largest foreclosure victim in the wake of the Great Recession.
Located at 600 Peachtree Street, the tower straddles the line between Midtown and downtown. The building, which was the tallest outside of Chicago and New York City when it was built, now ranks as the 23rd tallest building in the U.S.
CP Group paid $380 million to acquire the building in 2022, immediately leveraging millions of dollars to update the building. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have favored new buildings with lots of amenities over aging assets, which have generally garnered less demand and seen their vacancy rates increase.
Since buying the tower, CP Group completed some 100,000 square feet of “spec suites” or move-in-ready office spaces complete with break areas and hybrid meeting spaces under its flexible workspace program. The new lobby is expected to prompt further renovations, including a high-end restaurant and a transformation of the tower’s top floor into an event space and tenant lounge, the release said.
Credit: Rich Addicks / raddicks@ajc.com
Credit: Rich Addicks / raddicks@ajc.com
“Today marks a new chapter to take the building’s offerings one step higher and ensure it remains a top destination for businesses looking for exceptional workplace experiences for their teams,” Chris Eachus, partner at CP Group, said in the release.
Between July 2021 and February 2022, CP Group began scooping up well-known Atlanta assets, including Bank of America Plaza, Buckhead Centre and CNN Center.
The firm confirmed at the beginning of this year that CNN Center would have to be reimagined after the media company decided to leave its namesake building in favor of its 30-acre Turner Techwood campus in Midtown.
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