Parkside Partners, known for its loft office projects across Atlanta, plans a $12 million overhaul of a forgotten 3-story building on West Peachtree Street — which happens to sit amid nearly $1 billion worth of planned development. Parkside Partners has reached an agreement with the building’s owner, Providence Bank, to buy and redevelop the property, which stands at the corner of West Peachtree and 16th Street next to the former Trump Towers site.

Parkside Partners will call the project 16th Station, and renovations would begin once the developer lands a tenant to anchor the 40,000-square-foot building. The redesign, led by architect MSTSD Inc., would aim for a building with a character and feel like those in the Westside Provisions District.

Parkside Partners joins other developers embracing the adaptive reuse trend, as what vacant land remains within the intown Atlanta neighborhoods continues to climb back to pre-Recession prices, and construction costs for new buildings soar well over $400 a foot. Rents in existing trophy buildings, meanwhile, are rising to some of the highest levels in years, forcing more tenants to consider less expensive alternatives.

Parkside also likes all the projects planned on the northern end of West Peachtree. Consider that MARTA is seeking developers for its mixed-use project at Arts Center station, at 15th and West Peachtree. Nearby, MetLife has assembled more than eight where it’s planning a large mixed-use development. Next door to 16th Station, AMLI Residential is developing a tower on a 1.8-acre site at 15th and West Peachtree Streets. And, several transportation improvements are also in the works, including converting West Peachtree into a two-way street, which could turn the corridor into less of a thoroughfare and create the opportunity for more street-level retail.

Written by Douglas Sams for Atlanta Business Chronicle

One of Atlanta’s founding real estate families has bought one of the city’s most popular bars. Selig Enterprises has purchased the retail center occupied by Smith’s Olde Bar for more than $3M, according to Databank.

The property, called Morningside Strip Center, consists of nearly 18k SF of retail and another 27,400 SF of land, and has been owned by the estate of Beverly Taylor for more than 90 years. City Realty Advisors’ Tim Holdroyd brokered the sale. “We already have a substantial investment in the area, including Ansley Mall and Ansley II, and this seemed like a natural fit,” Selig CEO Steve Selig says in an emailed statement to us. The center made headlines earlier this year when it was put up for sale, casting a cloud of uncertainty over the fate of the popular Atlanta music venue on the northwest corner of Piedmont Avenue and Monroe Drive. Sources say the owners of Smith’s have signed a short-term renewal. Steve tells us, “Our plan is to improve the premises, work with the owners of Smith’s Olde Bar and lease the balance of the property.” Calls to the Smith’s owners were not returned as of press time. For Selig, the buy represents an opportunity to redo a portion of a prime Atlanta corner just across from Ansley Mall into an urban retail or entertainment complex.

Written by Jarred Schenke for Bisnow ATL

A Texas billionaire is claiming millions of dollars of his money was fraudulently used to develop the Emory Proton Therapy Center now under construction in midtown Atlanta.

Written by Douglas Sams and Ellie Hensley for Atlanta Business Chronicle

Oct 9, 2015, 6:00am EDT

Kelcy Warren, founder of Dallas-based natural gas pipeline giant Energy Transfer Partners, claims in Texas court filings the developer of the Emory Proton Therapy Center, Advanced Particle Therapy LLC of San Diego, Calif., improperly transferred $40 million, much of it from Warren. The proceeds were allegedly used as a “piggy bank” to fund other proton therapy centers.

“APT then transferred the funds it took from [business entities in Dallas] to its separate entities in Baltimore and Atlanta, where the funds were presumably used to develop those separate proton therapy centers,” Warren claims in a Sept. 24 court filing in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas. (To read one of the court filings, click here.)

APT’s proton therapy center in Dallas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 17. Warren had loaned $20 million to APT for that center.

Warren’s claims are another challenge for the $200 million Atlanta project, which has already fallen months behind.

The 107,000-square-foot Emory Proton Therapy Center broke ground a little over two years ago on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Peachtree Street, just a block from Emory’s Midtown hospital. At the May 2013 ground breaking, Mayor Kasim Reed called the launch of the center a “moment of auspicious beginnings.”

The project was supposed to be completed by November 2016, but Advanced Particle Therapy is now targeting a January 2017 completion date. For now, the project is about 85 percent complete.

In a statement, Advanced Particle Therapy indicated the legal issues surrounding the Dallas project would have no effect on its progress in Atlanta.

“Dallas Proton Treatment Holdings and Dallas Proton Treatment Center are separate entities from the Atlanta project,” said Ashley Preisinger, an APT executive director leading development of the Emory Proton Therapy Center. “Major building construction on the Emory Proton Therapy Center is complete. The next phase of the project is delivery, installation and clinical acceptance of the equipment leading to first patient treatment.”

Preisinger added, “The Emory Proton Therapy Center is committed to this project and its ability to deliver cancer treatment to the metro Atlanta area.”

The proton center would be staffed by physicians from Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute and Emory Healthcare. Asked about the issues involving APT, Emory Healthcare issued a brief statement to Atlanta Business Chronicle, saying, “Emory is set to operate the proton center once it opens.”

For now, Warren’s allegations give the appearance the Atlanta project is in trouble, said David Smith, a president with Kearny Street Consulting Inc. “If they’re trying to use funding from Dallas across the board and that wasn’t part of the agreement I would say they’re in trouble in general,” he said.

Smith also noted the legal issues come during a critical point in the Atlanta project ­— financing the purchase and installation of its equipment.

The centerpiece is a 9-by-12-foot cyclotron, an incredibly dense piece of high-tech machinery that uses powerful magnetic and electrical fields to accelerate protons — highly energetic subatomic particles — that can be focused precisely on cancer cells. It’s not clear what the machine costs, but the company expects to secure $120 million to $150 million in senior debt for the second phase.

Earlier this summer, APT CEO Jeff Bordok said the company has raised $47 million in convertible equity and $72.4 million from its capital partners for the Midtown proton center. It also entered advanced talks with lenders to finance the second phase, including the purchase of equipment and its installation.

The new legal issues linked to the Midtown project raise the question of whether Emory will have to step up financially to get it moving, Smith said. “Emory has deep pockets. They may be able to find a donor or [pony] up on this, but it’s a big ask to get that type of money.”

(The site is bounded by West Peachtree, Spring, 13th, and 14th streets in Midtown).

by Amy Wenk and Douglas Sams for Atlanta Business Chronicle

Jun 9, 2015, 11:13pm EDT Updated Jun 10, 2015, 10:37am EDT

Whole Foods Market Inc. wants to put a flagship store next to a planned Midtown residential tower, a 72,000-square-foot location that might include a brew pub and cooking school. Plans for the organic grocery store were unveiled June 9 to Midtown Development Review Committee. Architect Rob French, with Phillips Partnership, presented renderings of the project, which would stand next to a proposed residential tower at 14th and West Peachtree streets. Miami-based The Related Group is the developer.

Related executives appeared before the Development Review Committee with Phillips Partnership, a firm that has designed seven Whole Foods (NADAQ: WFM) stores, including locations in Sandy Springs and Savannah.

The new Midtown store could be more oriented toward dense, urban environments. Midtown is the city’s most walkable commercial district and home to several of its tallest buildings including One Atlantic Center and Bank of America Plaza.
“We’ve asked them to go a little outside their comfort zone,” French said of the tenant, referring to the design of the project.
Among the features proposed are a roughly 5,000-square-foot pub and 4,000-square-foot cooking school. Delivery service Insta-Cart could operate out of the store, according to plans. The design would also incorporate green walls and outdoor dining.

Apparently, Whole Foods is sensitive about any reference to its proposed Midtown location. Several times the tenant’s name was presented simply as “Organic Foods Market” to the DRC board. Ed Allen, with The Related Group, never mentioned Whole Foods by name, but he did say a lease with a tenant was in place. Even so, it’s a poorly kept secret. The name “Whole Foods” slipped several times during the architects’ presentation. In March, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the Austin, Texas-based grocery chain was in talks for the project.
The store could break ground in by mid-2016, with a projected early 2018 opening, Allen said after the meeting.

Development Review Committee members asked Related Group to consider adding a rooftop garden or terrace to the store and to tweak the design to be more engaging for pedestrians.