CushWake Retail Guru Sees Downtown Atlanta Transformation

Downtown Atlanta

ATLANTA—Downtown Atlanta has transformed to become a place more people want to work and live. And Dean McNaughton , a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield , has seen it with his own eyes. McNaughton is for the leasing at The Mall at Peachtree Center, part of an iconic development in the heart of Downtown Atlanta. Last summer, he secured three top-tier restaurant leases at the retail center featuring local chefs and a variety of cuisine, including Flex Mex at Tin Lizzy’s, South African inspired pies at Panbury’s and classic southern fried chicken at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. All three have been extensively praised by local dining writers. “Downtown Atlanta is undergoing a resurgence that is the culmination of a number of positive changes occurring simultaneously,” McNaughton tells GlobeSt.com. “First of all, you have Millennials as well as young sophisticates and empty nesters all desiring an urban lifestyle. As the submarkets to the east, west and north of downtown become more populated with new and renovated housing, we are seeing this growth spill over into the downtown submarket as well.” In fact, McNaughton says, in the past year he have seen two of Atlanta’s largest developers, Post Properties and Paces Properties , enter the downtown submarket with multifamily housing. Paces converted a decades-old office building into upscale lofts, and Post is building a large apartment complex on the cusp of Centennial Olympic Park. “This growing demand for downtown housing is further fueled by the new vibrancy of downtown that has been the result of world-class attractions such as the World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, and the College Football Hall of Fame,” McNaughton says. “Additionally, Georgia State University brings Millennials downtown for education, and they become familiar with the submarket and seek to work or live nearby after graduation.” As McNaughton sees it, this desire to be and live downtown is driving demand for office space , as businesses wanting to hire Millennials and urban sophisticates need to be where their work force wants to live. “It is a cycle that is self-propelling,” he concludes. “Attractions drive people, which drives retail and dining, which drives the ability and desire to live downtown, which ultimately fuels the office and retail markets and creates even more vitality and livability.” What does the future hold for Downtown Atlanta? Read one man’s opinion .