"It's a landmark building that has been a part of the culture of downtown Atlanta for many years--since the 1920s--and it's easily positioned to be the epicenter of the downtown resurgence from a retail perspective," Williams tells GlobeSt.com. "Downtown benefits from a large employee base with a daytime populationof 150,000 people."

Macy's vacated the building five years ago, and since then it has been occupied by multiple tenants, including Delta, which used the building in training pilots and service staff, says Williams. The redevelopment project includes turning the space into a mixed-use development including approximately 300,000 sf of office on the top five floors and just under 200,000 sf of retail on the ground three floors. A new glass encased entryway is to be constructed on Peachtree Street.

"The idea is to invite patrons into the building, almost creating another avenue on the street down the center of the building in the form of a grand atrium with retail centers lining either side," says Williams. He expects potential tenants to be a mix of upscale restaurants, and retail in the form of service and apparel industries. Demolition of the interior of the former Macy's will begin in the next two to three weeks and the building is expected to reopen in fall 2009.