Red-Hot North Fulton Entices Spec Office Project

With 1.4 million sf of office space leased in the first half, the 20 million-sf North Fulton submarket can’t be ignored, agree Jones Lang LaSalle and J.P. Morgan Strategic Property Fund officials. They are joint-venturing Oakview II, a six-story, 150,000-sf building scheduled to break ground in the three-building Sanctuary Park in mid-August. The estimated $15-million spec project is targeting a July 2001 completion.

Although there has been no pre-leasing, the developers recall a sister building, Oakview I, also a spec venture, was 85% leased when it opened in April of this year. Class A rental rates in North Fulton, 25 miles north of Downtown Atlanta, average $21.90 per sf, according to Richard Bowers & Co.’s midyear office market report. J.P. Morgan acquired the 150-acre Sanctuary Park in 1997 as part of a 13-building portfolio transaction with GE Real Estate Equities and American Resurgens Management Corp.