Atlanta Regional Commission plans move to Peachtree Center

August 3,2016

The Atlanta Regional Commission plans to move its offices to Peachtree Center from its current home at the Loudermilk Center.

“We are moving to the heart of downtown,” said Kerry Armstrong, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, who is also an executive with Pope & Land.

Peachtree Center and ARC have signed a letter of intent for the regional planning agency to occupy 9,000 square feet for its conference facilities on Peachtree Center’s Plaza level. The agency also will lease about 41,000 square feet of office space in Peachtree Center’s International Tower for its 200 employees.

ARC has been considering its options for new space since it learned of the United Way of Greater Atlanta’s interest in selling some or all of its property on the block.

“Without the United Way’s change of strategy, this would not have happened,” Armstrong said. “We had an opportunity to collegially solve multiple challenges.”

The agency worked with John Izard and Cathy Sheehan of Cushman Wakefield to identify office property in downtown Atlanta accessible to transit and where ARC can control its own meeting space.

ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker said the agency has been at the Loudermilk Center for 16 years, and it still had about 10 years on its lease with United Way. But much of the space in the center – including the board room – was not part of ARC’s lease, meaning it had to book that space like an outside entity.

“As we have tried to increase our engagement with the community, we have wanted to have more meeting facilities,” said Hooker, who added Peachtree Center’s final concept for the conference facilities and board room was what convinced them to choose that option. “Plus it is very comparable to what we are paying (in rent) right now.”

Representing Peachtree Center in the transaction was the JLL team of Mike Werner, David Horne and Kay Younglove.

The Atlanta Regional Commission, which used to be on Northside Drive near West Paces Ferry Road, was one of the major community partners behind the development of the Loudermilk Center. The community gathering place – developed by United Way with major gifts from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and R. Charles Loudermilk – is where the Rotary Club of Atlanta and the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta meet on Mondays and Tuesdays every week, respectively.