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ATLANTA-Equity One Inc. has acquired the 152,239-sf, 100%-leased Piedmont Peachtree Crossing in the affluent Buckhead submarket for what area brokers tell GlobeSt.com is the highest per-sf price paid this year for a neighborhood shopping center.

The North Miami Beach, FL-based company paid the metro area office of Germany-based Minerva Real Estate Investments $48 million, or $315.29 per sf, for the 32-year-old property on Piedmont Road. Minerva is the general partner of Piedmont Peachtree Associates LP, the Marietta-based seller of record, according to the Georgia Divisions of Corporations.

The transaction marked the second time in three years a Minerva affiliate has sold area retail assets for premiums. In February 2003, GDC Properties Inc. of Hawthorne, NY paid $39 million for a four-property portfolio, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. The properties were the Shops at Laurel Springs, Suwanee, 47,955 sf, $10.28 million or $214.28 per sf; Publix at Centerville, Lithonia, 47,955 sf, $9.73 million or $203.09 per sf; Publix at Mt. Zion, Morrow, 55,999 sf, $10.99 million or $196.33 per sf; and Publix at Old Peachtree, Lawrenceville, 47,955 sf, $8 million or $167.99 per sf.