Southeast Real Estate Business • October 2022

www.REBusinessOnline.com October 2022 • Volume 23, Issue 7 NEW AND IMPROVING: ATLANTA'S RETAIL MARKET By John Nelson Upcoming retail projects, redevelopments are helping Atlanta move on from the COVID-19 pandemic. I n recent weeks and months, At-lanta’s retail scene has been mired in uncertainty as buildings hous-ing some of the city’s most treasured destinations, including Star Bar in Little Five Points and a stretch of res-taurants and nightlife spots on Ponce de Leon Avenue, have been sold to developers. Many beloved restaurants have also closed their doors in recent months, including 8Arm on Ponce de Leon, The Highlander in Mid-town, Flip Burger in West Midtown, Scalini’s Italian Restaurant in Smyrna and The Rusty Nail in Sandy Springs, among others. “It’s bittersweet because a lot of these businesses and institutions add significantly to the culture of our market,” says Greg Eisenman, senior director of retail at Franklin Street. “At the same time, some of the devel-opments that are replacing them can also add significant value as well, just Spiller Park Coffee will be the first tenant to open within Hotel Row, which will also house a Thai restaurant, pizza parlor, cocktail bar and a florist. The adaptive reuse property is part of Newport RE’s South Downtown development in Atlanta. obviously in a different way. What it comes down to is that these develop-ers need to be good stewards to the community.” There’s little doubt that Atlanta’s retail market is changing drastically. After going through multiple chal-lenges from the COVID-19 pandem-ic, retail and mixed-use developers are helping breathe new life into the city with various projects around town. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the southside of downtown Atlanta, which is seeing renewed in-vestment and interest after decades of under-utilization. Carter and development partner Branch Properties are working along Hank Aaron Drive within Carter’s Summerhill development on a shop-ping center anchored by Publix that will also house a Piedmont Urgent Care by Wellstreet location and a Piedmont primary care office. The new development will comple-ment a stretch of restaurants, stores and bars along Georgia Avenue that Carter delivered pre-pandemic in see ATLANTA, page 24 LIFE SCIENCES REIGN SUPREME IN THE TRIANGLE Demand for laboratory and R&D space is now spilling into Raleigh-Durham’s suburbs with major developments underway. W By Kathy Gigac of Avison Young years, as well as in the home base of Raleigh. Amgen, a California based company, is constructing a $550 million bioman-ufacturing facility in Holly Springs, and Becton Dickinson recently select-ed Four Oaks in Johnston County for its new manufacturing site, with plans to invest approximately $25 million in see LIFE SCIENCES, page 30 hile the Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the heartbeat of all things life sciences in the Southeast, the outlying areas of the Raleigh-Durham market, commonly referred to as the Triangle, haven’t been ignored by expansive growth in the sector. Corporate announcements and expansions in Holly Springs, San-ford, Four Oaks and Hillsborough have been more prevalent in recent Rendering courtesy of Trinity Capital Advisors Starwood Capital Group and Trinity Capital Advisors are planning a $1 billion life sciences development called Spark LS in Morrisville, a suburb of Raleigh. INSIDE THIS ISSUE New Retail and Mixed-Use Hubs Headline Tampa's Urban Renewal page 22 Hires and Promotions page 6 New Orleans Market Highlights pages 19-21 Atlanta's Employment Base Attracts Investors and Renters Alike page 19