“There are still plenty of legs in the Atlanta economy and that bodes well for the next 24 to 36 months,” Fasano said. “We closed 93 transactions in the last 60 days worth over $300 million and 65 percent were from outside our market. Everything is fitting well for them to bring jobs here.”

Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions at Passco, is impressed with the momentum of the Atlanta office market. “I can remember not focusing on Atlanta for many years and going to markets like Dallas and Houston that were quick to recover jobs post recession,” Gillis said. “Atlanta was a laggard, but it's booming now with 80,000 jobs created last year.”

Stephen Proctor, managing director of NAI Brannen, predicted the steady stream of companies moving from the Northeast to Atlanta will continue due to the ease of doing business in the South.

The conversation, like in other sessions at RealShare Atlanta, eventually drifted to millennials, today's biggest buzzword, according to Gillis.

“Everyone is chasing these folks. It's a huge race to see who can build the nicest, sexist stuff to appeal to this group,” Gillis said. “They are very good at blowing their money.”

Hartz Mountain Industries has been in the Atlanta market for three years. Ernie Christoph, regional senor vice president sales/leasing, said Hartz is doing well and growing fast. Hartz has a portfolio of 4.5 million square feet in Atlanta.

“We hope to double the size of our portfolio here over the next couple of years,” he says. “We are constantly building on new portfolios. Half of New Jersey is looking to come down here and we might as well take advantage of it and get on the train.”

Proctor wondered how much gas is left in the tank of the Atlanta economy and what can be done to make the market even more attractive. The answer, he said, is apparent. “It's obviously transportation and how we can find a way to make MARTA work where it is more useful. We have a huge opportunity in our airport area.”

ATLANTA—Describing Atlanta as a landlord's market, driven by a robust industrial sector and the omnipresent millennial market, a panel of office space experts took the pulse of the market during RealShare Atlanta on Thursday.

Emil Gullia, senior director of Franklin Street, disagrees “a little bit” with a recent research report that indicated that the Atlanta market is still catching up due to being late coming out of the recession.

“One of the biggest things driving retail now is the industrial sector,” Gullia said. “Atlanta is poised to grow.”

Michael Fasono, first vice president of Marcus & Millichap, said Atlanta was late coming to the party of recession recovery because there had been a lot of “field of dreams and they will come building” and once those were cleared out, things have been running healthily for the past three and a half years.

“There are still plenty of legs in the Atlanta economy and that bodes well for the next 24 to 36 months,” Fasano said. “We closed 93 transactions in the last 60 days worth over $300 million and 65 percent were from outside our market. Everything is fitting well for them to bring jobs here.”

Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions at Passco, is impressed with the momentum of the Atlanta office market. “I can remember not focusing on Atlanta for many years and going to markets like Dallas and Houston that were quick to recover jobs post recession,” Gillis said. “Atlanta was a laggard, but it's booming now with 80,000 jobs created last year.”

Stephen Proctor, managing director of NAI Brannen, predicted the steady stream of companies moving from the Northeast to Atlanta will continue due to the ease of doing business in the South.

The conversation, like in other sessions at RealShare Atlanta, eventually drifted to millennials, today's biggest buzzword, according to Gillis.

“Everyone is chasing these folks. It's a huge race to see who can build the nicest, sexist stuff to appeal to this group,” Gillis said. “They are very good at blowing their money.”

Hartz Mountain Industries has been in the Atlanta market for three years. Ernie Christoph, regional senor vice president sales/leasing, said Hartz is doing well and growing fast. Hartz has a portfolio of 4.5 million square feet in Atlanta.

“We hope to double the size of our portfolio here over the next couple of years,” he says. “We are constantly building on new portfolios. Half of New Jersey is looking to come down here and we might as well take advantage of it and get on the train.”

Proctor wondered how much gas is left in the tank of the Atlanta economy and what can be done to make the market even more attractive. The answer, he said, is apparent. “It's obviously transportation and how we can find a way to make MARTA work where it is more useful. We have a huge opportunity in our airport area.”