When Norfolk Southern began construction on its Atlanta headquarters in 2019, the railroad operator already occupied a high-profile office building in the city’s Midtown district. It wanted another building, but in the same area.
Four years later, Norfolk Southern is calling a new tower home that’s located in another part of Midtown. The company’s headquarters at 650 W. Peachtree St. is one of several office buildings located in one of Atlanta’s most popular office districts.
The complex, designed by Pickard Chilton Architects, includes a 22-story tower and a smaller office building.
Both are clad with floor-to-ceiling windows made from high-performance glass to maximize daylight and views.
The two towers are connected by a “five-story campus-style hub that serves as a destination for employees to work and socialize,” according to Pickard Chilton. The hub features multiple roof terraces as well as enough parking for 2,000 cars.
The campus also has a dining facility, fitness center, conference and training facilities as well as a day care.
Cousins Properties was the lead developer for the Norfolk Southern building. The freight rail company occupies the entire complex.
Its Midtown location is popular with office tenants willing to pay a premium on rent. The market’s average rent of about $42 per square foot tops the Atlanta average of $28.16, according to CoStar data.
Recent signers of office leases in Midtown include tech giants Microsoft, Google and Cisco, money manager Invesco and law firm Jones Day.
Still, the Midtown market is dealing with rising sublease listings, as is the case in most major U.S. areas. Midtown has about 1.3 million square feet available for sublease, more than five times the amount it had at the beginning of 2020, according to CoStar Market Analytics.
Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. listed 57,000 square feet of office space at Midtown Union for sublease earlier this year. McKinsey never moved into the 26-story tower that opened last year.
Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern’s new corporate home was part of a deal that included city bonds and tax breaks in exchange for the rail company to relocate its headquarters to Atlanta from Norfolk, Virginia. As part of the agreement, Norfolk Southern had to retain thousands of employees who already worked in Atlanta at 1200 Peachtree St. in Midtown.
Once Norfolk Southern's new headquarters about 1.2 miles south of its former office was completed in 2021, the landlord of 1200 Peachtree St. renovated the building to reposition it for multiple users.
BUILDING DATA
Building Name: Norfolk Southern headquarters
Building Size: 1 million square feet
Owner: Norfolk Southern
Occupancy: 100%
Key Tenant: Norfolk Southern
Date Built: 2021
Interior Designer: HOK
Building Architect: Pickard Chilton
CoStar photographers capture images every day of distinctive buildings, each with its own story. Snapshots is an occasional feature showcasing one of them.