As CP Group continued to grow its portfolio in Atlanta last year, the investment firm set its sights on Bank of America Plaza, the tallest office tower in the Southeast.
In March 2022, CP closed on a deal for the 55-story skyscraper in a joint venture with funds managed by HPS Investment Partners. CP paid $380 million for the iconic tower at 600 Peachtree St. on the southern edge of midtown Atlanta, a price that works out to about $281 per square foot.
The magnitude of the sale and iconic nature of the office tower earned the transaction the 2023 CoStar Impact Award for the sale/acquisition of the year in Atlanta, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
CP Group's purchase of Bank of America Plaza increased the firm's total Atlanta portfolio to 6.1 million square feet. Its Atlanta holdings also include CNN Center and Buckhead Centre. CP is beefing up its portfolio as part of the firm's national strategy of identifying and acquiring undervalued, top-shelf office properties and upgrading them to make them more valuable.
CP is putting that strategy into play at Bank of America Plaza, where a $50 million capital improvement program is now underway. Plans call for a total overhaul of the lobby, development of an on-site high-end restaurant and the creation of 100,000 square feet of customizable, pre-built office suites that are set to become part of CP Group’s in-house flexible workspace program.
About the project: Built in 1992, the 1.35 million-square-foot Bank of America Plaza is the tallest office tower in the South. It reaches 1,023 feet into Atlanta's skyline.
What the judges said: "Bank of America Tower is perhaps the most recognizable building in Atlanta's skyline," said Christa Dilalo, a director of research at Cushman & Wakefield. "The improvements planned by the buyer represent one of the few recent significant investments in the downtown area, where institutional interest could have a substantial impact."
The transaction is important because it is "a sale of Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper where a new owner has come in to bring new life into the building in order for it to compete against newer development. An example of flight-to-quality in older assets where capital is expensed to make the building attractive to prospective tenants," said Scott Amoson, associate field research director at CBRE.
They made it happen: Chris Eachus of CP Group played a key role for the buyer. Will Yowell, Jay O'Meara, Justin Parsonnet and Ryan Reethof of CBRE represented the seller, San Francisco-based Shorenstein.
