Power Reads: 5 Interesting Articles That Will Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in leadership and the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. Each day we can become a better version of ourselves.

1. EXCLUSIVE: Carvana Subleasing Nearly 600K SF From State Farm In Atlanta

Carvana has subleased more than 550K SF of State Farm's Park Center Building 1, the 21-story, 607K SF tower overlooking Interstate 285 at the intersection of Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Bisnow has learned.

Carvana plans to start moving workers into the building on Feb. 1, a State Farm spokesperson confirmed. State Farm's employees have been operating virtually for more than 18 months, and the hybrid model has given State Farm “the experience and momentum to think differently about our facility needs,” spokesperson Roszell Gadson said in an email to Bisnow.

State Farm leases the 570K SF office component of Building 1 from a Transwestern investment fund that bought the building for $275.4M in 2017 from its original developer, KDC, according to Databank. Del Frisco's has a restaurant on the ground floor.

2. Visa To Take 123K SF At Former Norfolk Southern HQ

A financial giant is expanding its presence in Midtown Atlanta at Norfolk Southern's former headquarters.

Visa is planning to open a 123K SF office at 1200 Peachtree St., Gov. Brian Kemp's office announced Wednesday morning. Visa plans to create 1,000 jobs in the region over the next several years in the 370K SF building Cousins Properties purchased from the railway giant in 2019.

“Georgia is a growing hub for the fintech industry thanks in part to our strategic investment in workforce development initiatives,” Kemp said in a statement. “It’s always great to see a world-renowned company like Visa capitalize on the exceptional pool of diverse talent in Georgia and choose to invest in our state.”

Cousins purchased 1200 Peachtree St. for $82M after securing a deal with the railroad giant to build it a new headquarters tower off West Peachtree Street in Tech Square.

3. Cisco In Talks To Establish Huge Midtown Atlanta Office

Cisco Systems is in talks with Portman Holdings to lease approximately 80K SF at the 770K SF high-tech tower called Coda on West Peachtree Street in the heart of Georgia Tech's Tech Square, sources familiar with the negotiations tell Bisnow. The deal, if finalized, would fill most of the 100K or so SF of vacant office space at the $375M tower.

Officials with Portman and Cisco didn't respond to messages seeking comment. The company has been in conversation with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over the move, sources said, which is expected to bring hundreds of new tech jobs to the local economy.

Cisco could be the latest in a string of economic development wins for Atlanta, focused on the tech sector or companies opening tech hubs, including Google, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, BlackRock, Thyssenkrupp and, in a deal announced Wednesday morning, a new Visa office, also in Midtown.

4. Why education tech startup upGrad chose Midtown for its U.S. expansion

India-based education technology startup upGrad is looking to build on the legacy of Mailchimp and other successful Midtown startups with its new Ponce City Market office. 

The startup is investing much of the $185 million it raised earlier this year into an expansion into the United States. UpGrad partners with universities to adapt graduate degrees to online formats. Georgia’s robust university system and its talent pool of former and current startup employees made Atlanta a perfect fit.  

It helps that Karan Raturi, the North American general manager, is a Georgia Institute of Technology graduate.  

“The startup journeys and stories we’ve seen in Atlanta have created this incredible pool of product engineers, business development executives or marketing executives,” Raturi said. “We can tap into that pool at a cost structure that’s favorable within the U.S.”  

5. Accounting Firm Counting On High-Profile Signage In Big Lease At 2002 Summit

A Central Perimeter-based accounting firm is crossing a major interstate to get its brand in front of more than 200,000 vehicles a day.

Aprio, formerly known as Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, inked a deal for 55K SF at 2002 Summit Blvd., a tower in the Perimeter Summit office campus off Ashford-Dunwoody Road on the Brookhaven side of Central Perimeter, CoStar reports.

Aprio plans to install its signage atop the 18-story tower, according to CoStar. The 390K SF 2002 Summit overlooks Interstate 285 where an average of 219,000 vehicles traveled daily last year, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. The firm will move from its current headquarters at the Queen building at Concourse Corporate Center, across the interstate from Perimeter Summit.

Also known as 5 Concourse Parkway, the Queen is part of the iconic King and Queen towers in Central Perimeter.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great and hugely impactful week!