Cousins Breaks Ground on Build-to-Suit Research Building

ALPHARETTA, GA-Following through on a strategic plan to develop a research office campus for science-oriented companies, Cousins Properties Inc. has broken ground on a build-to-suit, 51,000-sf building at its 216-acre North Point Research Park on Westside Parkway in this Atlanta suburb.Inhibitex Inc., a bio-pharmaceutical firm based here 30 miles north of Downtown Atlanta, will be leasing the structure for an estimated 15 years at an aggregate rent of about $15 million, area brokers familiar with the North Fulton County office submarket tell GlobeSt.com.Cousins didn’t disclose leasing terms or the development cost of the building. But area construction industry estimators who have worked on similar metro projects tell GlobeSt.com the building will probably be built for about $150 per sf, or a total $7.7 million. The building is expected to be completed in early 2005, according to John McColl, senior vice president of Atlanta-based Cousins.”For the past five years, we’ve thought this area has had the potential to develop into a hub for life science companies,” McColl says in a prepared statement. “Our goal has always been to create a campus environment of first-class research and office facilities where bio-pharmaceutical and medical research firms can grow and prosper alongside companies with a similar purpose and vision.” He adds, “Developing this new building for a firm like Inhibitex is the next step toward marking that a reality.” The Inhibitex building will be adjacent to the 51,000-sf headquarters structure Cousins developed for pharmaceutical firm AtheroGenics in 1999. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs is funding a portion of the Inhibitex building’s construction cost, McColl says. The pilot funding program to assist bio-science research companies with their facilities needs was announced by Gov. Sonny Perdue in December 2003.Richard Courts IV of Carter Associates negotiated for Inhibitex in the leasing transaction.