Why Equus Is Betting on Alpharetta

Brookside I and II, a two-building, class A office campus totaling 266,592 square feet.

ATLANTA—Brookside I and II, a two-building, class A office campus totaling 266,592 square feet in Alpharetta, GA, has traded hands. An affiliate of Equus Capital Partners acquired the office assets in the suburb of Atlanta on behalf of Equus Investment Partnership X, a discretionary fund the firm manages. Represented by Kennedy Hicks , Michael McDonald , Keenan O’Brien , and Drew Nations of Eastdil Secured , Blackstone Group sold the office campus. It is 98% occupied. “This transaction provides the opportunity to acquire two high-quality office buildings located in an amenity-rich area,” says Joseph F. Felici , acquisitions manager of Equus who oversaw the acquisition for the firm, along with vice president George Haines and acquisitions analyst Timothy Feron . “With our planned capital upgrades and improvements to the existing on-site amenities, we believe the campus will become even more attractive and sought after by tenants in the marketplace.” Located at 3625 and 3655 Brookside Parkway, the five-story o ffice buildings are 15 years old and sit on a single 19.7-acre parcel. Campus amenities include a café, shower facilities, an outdoor area with a terraced landscape. The parking ratio is 4.2 spaces per 1,000 square feet. The office campus has direct access to the Big Creek Greenway, a 12-foot-wide, 14-mile paved trail that travels along the Big Creek Greenway and through Forsyth County. Brookside I and II is within two miles of exit 10 on Georgia 400. That’s about 22 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta and 15 miles northeast of Buckhead. According to Equus, exit 10 is becoming a preferred destination for office tenants looking for space in the Alpharetta submarket because it’s close to affluent residential communities and to Avalon, a newly constructed mixed-use development less than two miles away. Avalon is home to retailers like Whole Foods Market, Crate & Barrel, as well as Regal Cinemas and several restaurants. As Equus sees it, a nearby 110,000 square-foot LifeTime Fitness club laces the Brookside campus at a distinct advantage over other amenity-starved suburban locations. “ Atlanta’s office market  continues to attract investment capital, both domestic and offshore, due to the positive population and job growth metrics,”  Will Yowell,  vice chairman at CRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “Businesses are finding the Atlanta market offers a deep talent pool, and hence are expanding their businesses. This expansion combined with limited new construction is producing significant rent growth in the office sector, and hence very attractive risk adjusted returns.”