The downtown Atlanta of a century ago was unrecognizable compared to today.
Atlanta was still in its first decades as Georgia’s largest city, surpassing Savannah. Electric streetcars zipped around downtown and connected to the suburbs. Architectural firm Burge and Stevens formed downtown in 1919 and helped design many of those suburban residences in the Tudor and Colonial Revival styles popular at the time.
In the more than 105 years since then, the firm underwent name changes, expansions and a merger, but it always remained downtown. That streak will continue at least another seven years because the company — now melded into Ohio-based SSOE Group — renewed its lease in a place where its workers have long called home.
“We just like the urban feel, the little bit of grittiness that downtown has,” said Ron Stang, an SSOE principal who has been in Atlanta for 41 years. “We don’t need a polished, clean, new and shiny building.”
The firm is among the stalwarts of downtown’s corporate ecosystem, which has gone through its ebbs and flows over the past century. Its architects saw the dismantling of the city’s streetcar network in favor of automobiles, desegregation and the ensuing “white flight,” the impact of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and the devastation wrought by COVID-19.
The past five years have altered the perception of downtown, especially its office sector. Vacancy rates in metro Atlanta are at an all-time high with roughly a third of all office square footage either empty or otherwise available to rent, according to real estate services firm CBRE.
Downtown’s availability rate — the amount of space either vacant or on the sublease market — is among the highest of any Atlanta neighborhood. This is despite commanding some of the cheapest office rents in the city.
“Downtown saw the least amount of leasing activity of any submarket looking at 2024 totals,” said Shelton Quantz, senior research analyst with real estate services firm JLL.
SSOE was among the outliers, signing one of downtown’s largest leases last year for 20,000 square feet within the 100 Peachtree St. tower. Other terms of the seven-year extension, which was brokered by JLL on behalf of the tower’s owner Zeller Realty Corp., were not disclosed.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Stang said downtown has its challenges, including those it’s struggled to shake since the pandemic. But he said the character is unmatched.
“It’s fun to be involved in (downtown) versus a suburban office park where you just come in, you do your thing and then you go home and leave,” he said. “That’s not near as exciting.”
‘Holding its own’
It’s fitting for architects to occupy buildings with historical significance or design quirks.
In 1919, Burge and Stevens’ first office was in 140 Peachtree St., which held the honor at the time of being the world’s “tallest thinnest building,” according to a property listing. (It no longer holds either accolade).
The company would later move to 101 Marietta St., a building that was torn down in the 1970s to make way for a 36-story tower once known as Centennial Tower. The firm, which was then known as Stevens and Wilkinson, also moved to 157 Luckie St. across from the Tabernacle before relocating in 1969 as one of the initial tenants at the 32-story 100 Peachtree.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“This building had a lot of architectural cache when it was first built here,” Stang said. As architects do, he credited the tower’s design firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Formerly known as the Equitable Building, the skyscraper is among downtown’s better performers in recent years. The building ended 2024 at roughly 85% occupied.
“It seems to be holding its own in this market, whereas some of the bigger buildings (have struggled),” said AJ Robinson, president and CEO of downtown civic organization Central Atlanta Progress.
Toledo-based SSOE acquired Stevens and Wilkinson in 2021 for $20 million, according to a report at the time from the Toledo Blade. The recent lease renewal is a slight downsizing, going from a little more than a floor to a single floor on the 25th story. SSOE has nearly 80 employees based in the building.
Unlike the shiny towers of Buckhead, Midtown or West Midtown, downtown’s office buildings tend to be older and provide more of a vintage work environment. But beyond downtown rent discounts, classic designs and historic status is also a draw that keeps many tenants in place, said Gillam Campbell, senior manager for JLL’s Atlanta research team.
“I think that the firms and companies that really care about a historical sense of place want to stay here,” she said.
Atlanta’s laboratory
Just as downtown has changed over the decades, its next phase is already starting to come into form.
The $5 billion redevelopment of the Gulch called Centennial Yards is close to finishing its first two new towers with several other buildings on the way. A 10-block stretch of South Downtown is also getting renewed attention as a hub for startups. Underground Atlanta, the Five Points MARTA station, the Center project (formerly known as CNN Center) and several other properties are also primed for new investment.
Todd Dolson, an architect and principal with SSOE, said it’s an exciting time to look over the changes taking place outside his office window.
“I think of downtown almost like a laboratory,” he said. “We get to see folks test out converting an office tower into residential … It’s fun to be here and see that firsthand.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Lisa Jebodhsingh, director of research for JLL, said the optimism for downtown hasn’t materialized when looking at its office vacancy statistics or the amount of distress facing many properties. But she said there’s a silver lining to some old offices being torn down or converted.
“There’s a lot of really old inventory that is just never going to be occupied again” she said. “Seeing those come out and being used for other purposes is actually a really positive thing for our market.”
SSOE and the architects at its premerger predecessor have left their fingerprints across downtown Atlanta, especially when it comes to historic renovations. It helped restore the Tabernacle, convert the century-old Glenn Building into a boutique hotel and design the brutalist Atlanta Central Library.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Stang said being close to those sources of historic inspiration can’t be matched anywhere else in Atlanta.
“Not everybody loves downtown, but the people that are down here and appreciate it, like it,” he said. “I think it’s going to continue to get better.”
Future of Downtown
This story is part of an occasional series by the AJC to look at the future of Atlanta’s downtown. Several high-profile developments are poised to bring billions of dollars into the city’s core while it continues to grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenging real estate financing market. Downtown will also soon garner international attention when the World Cup comes to Atlanta in 2026, providing a deadline for the city and downtown stakeholders to make promised improvements.
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