The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Piedmont Healthcare moving to Midtown
Company consolidating workforce in office tower in Atlantic Station.
Piedmont Healthcare soon will have its name splashed across a trophy office tower in Atlantic Station, where it will shift hundreds of executive and administrative support workers from other Atlanta-area offices.
Piedmont has signed a lease to occupy nearly 165,000 square feet in the tower at 271 17th Street NW overlooking the Downtown Connector, a news release said Monday. The new administrative headquarters, called its “System Support Center,” will consolidate workers from an office building in Vinings, the Piedmont West tower on Howell Mill Road and an office building adjacent to the flagship Piedmont Atlanta Hospital in Buckhead.
The move to Midtown will reduce the nonprofit health system’s “administrative footprint by more than 50 percent,” Piedmont said in a statement.
“We have been assessing and planning for a more efficient and consolidated space overall the past several years. This new location provides our organization with a better place for working together more efficiently and effectively.”
Piedmont operates nearly two dozen hospitals and numerous other medical facilities across Georgia.
Aileen Almassy and John Zintak of commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield represented 271 17th Street owner Lionstone Investments. Bo Keatley, David Rubenstein, John Flack, and Michael Broome of Savills represented Piedmont.
BB&T formerly had the naming rights to the 25-story tower before it merged with SunTrust Banks to become Truist Financial Corp.
The Piedmont lease, which is about a quarter of the building’s square footage, is one of the largest in metro Atlanta so far this year.
The Atlanta-area office market has struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. Nearly one-third of all office square footage in metro Atlanta was available to rent at the end of the first quarter, said real estate services firm CBRE. Leasing activity has picked up this year. But often that has meant companies signing leases that make their operations smaller and more efficient amid continued popularity among employees of hybrid and remote work.
Still, top-tier Class A buildings with appealing amenities that are near restaurants, shopping and other attractions remain appealing to companies looking to upgrade their spaces. Companies also have tried to woo workers back into the office with special events, food and other perks. Others have mandated days in the office.
Lionstone chairman and co-founder Dan Dubrowski said in a release that the Piedmont lease “is evidence that while the broader market is weak, office demand is concentrating into specific buildings in micro-geographies that are still growing.”