Downtown’s former United Way building sells, set for $45M boost as offices

A deal floated for years to reposition downtown’s former United Way building as something else has come to fruition.

For nearly three years, Colliers International Atlanta has been marketing the Robert W. Woodruff Volunteer Service Center Building at 100 Edgewood Avenue—initially as potential dorms to capitalize on the boom of intown, off-campus student housing.

The 18-story building has served as offices since it was built in 1965, but it stands at the doorstep of Georgia State University, across the street from Hurt Park.

A surging office market, however, has changed plans to fill the tower with GSU students.

Colliers International brokered a $17.65 million sale of the building between United Way and an affiliate of Parkway Property Investments.

Parkway is planning an extensive revamp of the 306,000-square-foot building—to the tune of $45 million—in hopes of luring tenants to a submarket defined by the eastern edges of downtown and GSU.

Colliers International

According to Colliers reps, the high cost of redoing the tower as individual housing units was also a hindrance to going that route.

Parkway CEO Allen de Olazarra called the tower “iconic” and the Edgewood Avenue location ideal in a prepared statement. The company has owned numerous office properties between downtown and Buckhead before.

“We especially like [downtown] and the Georgia State University neighborhood,” said de Olazarra. “It’s the best office market in Atlanta to attract and retain the most capable young employees.”

Meanwhile, United Way’s workers have relocated to a building the nonprofit owns on Courtland Street downtown, the Loudermilk Conference Center.

Bob Ward, Colliers International Atlanta senior vice president, called the transaction “a big win for the United Way of Greater Atlanta, Parkway, and the downtown Atlanta submarket.”