Atlanta office rents hit record highs in surprising neighborhood

If there was any doubt the Atlanta office market is hot, the revelation that rental rates have hit a new all-time high could silence the doubters.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that soon-to-lease office space in Atlanta could go for as much as $53 per square foot—well beyond the city’s norm and the first reported instance of offices garnering more than $50.

These prices aren’t happening in the traditionally more costly office markets of Buckhead, Midtown, and downtown, however. The new record has been set in Old fourth Ward, at Atlanta's adaptive-reuse sensation Ponce City Market.

Unlike the office towers that line Peachtree Street, Ponce City Market has been especially popular with creative-class businesses, including technology companies Twitter and MailChimp, the ABC reports.

Curbed Atlanta

Loft-office styling that incorporates original details of the interwar building—and enviable proximity to the Beltline—definitely doesn't hurt.

The news is especially great for 725 Ponce—the 360,000-square-foot office tower rising just across the Beltline from Ponce City Market.

Surprisingly, a large loft-style office development just across the street from Ponce City Market was recently scrapped in favor of residential development. Given the success of Ponce City Market, the change at 525 North is perplexing.

Time will tell if more traditional office centers in the city will be able to garner the prices seen along the Beltline.

• Atlanta office space breaks $50 a foot rent barrier [Atlanta Business Chronicle]