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Small Midtown Conversions Buck Big Building Trend

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Old office buildings are getting new life, even as many meet wrecking ball in name of progress

Two-story grey building with orange and green accents and a stepped lawn to the sidewalk.
A rendering of the proposed new look for 1438 West Peachtree Street.
Parkside Partners

While it seems a new high-rise tower is announced in Midtown every week — including a proposal for the city’s second-tallest tower — there is another, smaller development movement afoot.

Atlanta-based Payscape is planning to move into a 40,000-square-foot office building on West Peachtree Street near its northern terminus with Peachtree Street. But rather than a new building or sleek high-rise, plans call for them to take over what is currently a drab midcentury office, designed to look like a classical home from the front.

But before that happens, as the Atlanta Business Chronicle notes, the building is slated for a major overhaul.

1438 West Peachtree as it appears today.
Google Maps

And it’s not the only small office building in Midtown where that’s happening. Parkside Partners, the developer behind the Payscape building, has no less than five similar small repurposing projects in and around Atlanta.

Just down the street, plans call for the firm to transform a dated three-story office building across from Arts Center Station into "16th Station" — sleek and sexy loft offices.

A rendering of 16th Station.
Parkside Partners

Between the two projects, however, buildings of the same vintage are falling for more density. It'll be interesting to see if these office conversions are placeholders for something bigger in the long run — or the final, best use of these small Midtown lots.

Payscape

1438 West Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309, USA