Locally based Novare paid Peachtree Portal LP/TCW Realty Advisors, also of here, $2.18 million per acre, or about $50 per sf, for the tract at West Peachtree and Alexander streets. The site is two blocks from Centennial Olympic Park and planned new attractions of the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.

Advantis/GVA brokers John Maddox Jr. and David Branch negotiated for the seller. They expect remaining Downtown land to top even the Novare-acquired parcel. "This purchase will definitely add value and focus towards the remaining three-acre adjoining tract" that the Peachtree Portal partnership is also selling.

Meanwhile, in north Downtown where Novare plans to develop 1,200 apartment units in 2004 on a four-acre paid next to the MARTA Civic Center Station, Daniel Corp. of Birmingham, AL has paid $9 million, or $2.73 million per acre, for a 3.3-acre tract just north of the Novare project, according to locally based Databank.