ATLANTA MARKET AT A GLANCE 
Top retailers that entered the market in 1999-2000
Walgreens - five stores in Georgia currently, in the next 18-24 months Walgreens plans to open 45 stores

Staples - 23 stores in Georgia
SuperTarget- 30 stores in Georgia
Whole Foods - three stores in Georgia
CVS/pharmacy
Kohl's

Top restaurants that entered the market in 1999-2000
Brusters - ice cream, 12 units in 1999
McCormick & Schmick's seafood
Zaxby's chicken
Blue Point, one location in Atlanta
Il Fornaio

Top corporate entries into the market in 1999-2000
Concert, subsidiary of AT&T and British Telecom - 22,000 square feet in Midtown Atlanta

Healtheon/Web MD - 35,000 square feet in Midtown Atlanta

ISS Internet Security Systems - 300,000 square feet

Top industrial entries and expansions in 1999-2000
National Distribution Centers - Southpark, 204,000 square feet

Habasit Belting - Shawnee Ridge, 156,095 square feet, landlord is IDI

All Southeast Distribution - 200 Bucknell Court, 114,700 square feet, landlord is M.Hodges Enterprises

Notable new office/retail/industrial projects in 1999-2000
Griffin Group - 100 Tenth St., Midtown Atlanta, 160,000 square feet of loft office space, development began this summer

Portman Group - 260 Peachtree St., Downtown Atlanta, 650,000 square feet, SunTrust Plaza Garden (six floors)

Equity Offices - 3475 Piedmont Rd., The Prominence in Buckhead, 425,000 square feet

Hogan Group - Glenridge Highlands Two, 414,000 square feet over 20 floors in North/Central Georgia, 400 submarkets

Pope +Land - Georgia 400 at Haynes Bridge Road, 260,000 square feet over 11 floors in North Fulton/Alpharetta

Vacancy factor marketwide
Availability and vacancy analysis for Office Space for the following submarkets for A and B grade space: Buckhead, North Fulton, Central Perimeter, Northeast Atlanta, Downtown Atlanta, Northlake, Midtown Atlanta and Northwest

Grand Totals: 
Buildings: 1,729 
Existing Rentable Building Area: 155,353,720 square feet
Direct Vacant: 9,907,015 square feet
Vacancy: 6.38 percent
Direct with sublet vacant: 11,708,597 square feet
Vacancy with sublet: 7.54 percent 
Total Available: 16,229,359 square feet
Direct Available: 13,043,566 square feet 
Sublet Available: 3,185,793 square feet

Development Buzz
Atlantic Steel Project: Just north of Midtown is the site of the most anticipated and exciting development project in Atlanta in decades, the 145-acre Atlantic Steel site. With all of the zoning and regulatory hurdles finally overcome, work began this summer on removal of the old steel plant, site remediation and pre-grading. Groundbreaking for Phase I of the mixed-use community is set for next summer, and the project is targeted for an October 2002 opening.  It will be Atlanta's first true "city within a city." Up to 4,000 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office, four hotels, roads, lakes, parks, sidewalks, bike paths, and streetscapes. A new bridge will be built over I-75/85 at 17th Street to connect the community to Midtown. The entire 10 to 15 million square foot project won't be finished until around 2010.

Items worth mentioning
The combined growth of the Atlanta office markets and the resilience of these markets have been driven and continue to be supported by a current population growth of 3 percent annually. 

1999 net migration: 73,300 people (highest)
1999 office completions: 7,300,000 square feet 3rd highest)
1999 job growth rankings: 113,600 (highest)
1999 office absorption: 6,300,000 (third highest)

This growth has ensured the ongoing demand for office space and, given the low vacancy levels that exist, has required development of new office space. Currently 11.8 million square feet is under construction in Buckhead, Central Perimeter, Downtown, GA 400, Northeast, Northwest and Metro South. The inventory should sustain the availability of office space for a one- to two-year period at current levels of space absorption.