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ATLANTA-In a clear sign that the Atlanta retail market is heating up, American Freight, an Ohio-based discount furniture retailer, is moving into town. American Freight just inked a long-term lease for 35,000 square feet of retail and warehouse space.

Jared Daley, vice president, corporate retail services for Bull Realty, and Rick Ferguson, vice president, corporate office services for the firm, represented the landlord, MBMP LLC, in the transaction. The tenant represented itself.

“Not only did we fill 50% of the building, but we supplied the landlord with a discount retailer, a sector which is thriving in today’s economy,” Daley said in a statement. American Freight will occupy half of the 70,050-square-foot building located at 4505 Fulton Industrial Boulevard. The additional 10,000 square feet of space remains available for lease. The store is scheduled to open its doors by the end of April.

Although American Freight opted for a unique retail-warehouse combo, that’s not the typical retail transaction in the current market. Top grocery-anchored shopping centers and discounted lender-owned assets will dominate transaction activity through the first half of 2012 in Atlanta, according to the latest predictions from Marcus & Millichap.

Single-tenant concepts such as Family Dollar, Dollar General and O’Reilly Auto Parts are expanding their project pipeline in the Atlanta metro. That, M&M reports, could potentially providing investors with additional newly leased product to purchase.

"In Atlanta, investors are particularly big on single-tenant net-lease properties with credit tenants and long-term leases,” Michael Bull, president and founder of Bull Realty, tells GlobeSt.com. “Especially in a down economy, investors love the stability and predictability of these assets.”