Buckhead office tower gets new design, potential construction start date

An office development planned for a swiftly changing Buckhead district has an expected launch date and a new, glassy design.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Gensler has revised their plans for the Oliver McMillan project, first announced in early 2015, that now call for a single tower.

The combination of the two differently styled buildings into one structure was necessitated by cost and inefficiencies, developers say.

Originally, the development was slated to have 16-foot ceilings, unique textured glass, 230,000 square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail space, and a 40,000-square-foot gym.

New renderings show a three-story building facing Peachtree Road, with the bulk of the single tower—seemingly the two buildings from the original proposal stacked atop each other—fronting East Paces Ferry Road.

Now, the total square footage of the building is around 330,000 square feet with 35,000 square feet of street retail, the newspaper reports. It’s unclear if the gym will still be a part of the project.

Gensler via BuckheadView

Redevelopment of the underutilized, high-profile site is long overdue.

The less-than-one-acre parcel was purchased for $16.5 million back in pre-recession 2007; the price of $498 per square foot was reportedly the most ever paid for a Buckhead property.

After the Streets of Buckhead project fell through, the property was vacant for years before becoming the project office for Oliver McMillan as it developed The Shops Buckhead Atlanta across the street.

Demolition of the HiFi Buys could begin soon, with construction of the tower anticipated to launch in early 2018.

• Developer tweaks design of Buckhead tower, prepares to demolish HiFi Buys [Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscriber]
• Buckhead Atlanta Builder Unveils Plans for 'Creative' Offices [Curbed Atlanta]