Blackstone Mortgage Trust finances $278m for Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has secured $278.4 million financing of Colony Square, a mixed-use office and retail asset located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

The 50-year-old destination represents the first mixed-use development in the Southeast and it is being reimagined into Midtown’s Living Room — an activated, arts-infused gathering place for the urban neighborhood’s 20,000 residents, 70,000 office workers, 25,000 college students and 6.1 million annual visitors to commune.

The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Lionstone Investments and North American Properties, to secure the loan through Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT). Loan proceeds were used to retire the existing loan and fund future redevelopment plans for the asset.

Colony Square currently comprises two office buildings (Buildings 100 and 400) totaling 723,470 square feet of office space atop ground-floor retail. The redevelopment of the landmark project, which is already under way, will include renovating the existing ground-floor retail in Building 100 and 400. The street-level component will feature a collection of unique-to-market retail and chef-driven restaurants, such as Iselle Kitchen + Bar and its artfully prepared, West Coast–influenced Italian cuisine.

The next phase will include the construction of additional office and retail space. The retail component is 79 percent preleased to the highly anticipated food hall and iPic, an experiential movie theater with nine auditoriums, all equipped with 4K digital cinema technology; farm-to-glass cocktails with “ninja-like” servers; and a restaurant by three-time James Beard Award–winning Chef Sherry Yard. The final phase of construction will include a 100,000-square-foot office tower (Building 500) with 18,000 square feet of ground-floor retail on the northwest corner of the site.

With a highly programmed public realm, energized streets and a best-in-class merchandise mix, the reimagined Colony Square will feature more than 1 million square feet of premier office and retail space upon completion in late 2020.

The property’s location at the corner of 14th and Peachtree streets, known in Atlanta as “Main and Main,” is one of the most highly trafficked in the city, exposing the community to more than 25,000 cars and thousands of pedestrians daily. Additionally, Colony Square is located close to the Interstate 75/85 connector and is a short walk from the MARTA Arts Center station.