Equitable building sells its soul for $19 million

equitable building ~ what now atlanta
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New landlord to rename one of Atlanta’s most recognizable buildings with, get this: “100 Peachtree.”

UPDATE (Nov. 5, 2012): New Equitable Building owner giving the Icon $4 million windows for Christmas

Proving once again that Atlanta has no soul, the iconic Equitable building is now 100 Peachtree, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC).

America’s Capital Partners paid $19 million for the building and plan on “modernizing” it which includes removing the Equitable name — a company that no longer exists.

100 Peachtree will be the building’s new name. For now, anyway.

Ahem. Let’s give that a shot: “I’ll meet you at outside of the 100 Peachtree building.” Not feeling it?

What about: “My favorite feature of the Atlanta skyline is the 100 Peachtree building.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?

Too bad Georgia State University, who was in the bid to purchase the property, was unsuccessful. They might have left what little Atlanta history the Equitable, er, 100 Peachtree building, brought downtown.

Click here to read more about the $19 million sale as reported by the AJC.

 

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

23 Responses

  1. Oh, sadness. One of the best things about working in that building was being able to say “I work in the Equitable building” and everyone knew exactly what that meant. Try that with 191 Peachtree or even Concourse (when I worked there, I’d often say “the King & Queen buildings” and many would still not be sure). Nevertheless, if we can have the Willis Tower in Chicago now, we can have the ______ building, I guess. Best feature of the place was the iconic status and perhaps the ground floor Starbucks (first one downtown). Oh, and occasionally seeing John Lewis on the elevator. Otherwise, the climate control systems were a nightmare. If you’d like to experience hot flashes, work there. Glad they plan to change that.

  2. This building needs major help, as does a lot of downtown… however, I am really sad GSU was unsuccessful on the bid. It would have been the perfect tenant and would have been the best buyer to help in the revitalization of that area.

    With that said, I wonder what they are going to do to modernize the building. I look forward to watching it progress.

  3. I’d kind of like to see the Equitable name remain, but my feelings on the subject are not nearly as strong as the author’s. In any event, I doubt that the phrase “My favorite feature of the Atlanta skyline is the Equitable building” has ever been uttered.

  4. More buildings in downtown need to be renovated (inside and out as well as street level – better restaurants, renovated plazas, etc). This will help the building compete with newer offices when trying to land tenants. I wish more investors would renovate buildings downtown… especially street level (Peachtree Center comes to mind).

  5. This is one of my favorite buildings downtown, but it’s not because of the name on top. Even though it’s set kind of wonky to the street, it has an active street level, and the dark modern style is memorable. That Starbucks, however convenient it was while I was at GSU, sucks. Talk about some dysfunctional staff. If you have to be at class in 10 minutes and there’s more than 6 people in line, forget about it.

  6. I’m waiting for the Urbanist to suggest that the new owner turn the old Equitable building into apartment units. In fact, I’m sure Urbanist has some great suggestions on amenities, color schemes, appliance manufacturers, and even designs for the maintenance staff uniforms.

  7. Too bad GSU couldn’t make it happen. Would have been cool for them to own that entire intersection (except Toyoko Inn, if it ever gets built.) But if GSU buys Georgia Pacific Plaza and Woodruff Park, all is forgiven.

  8. @ James – Horrible idea. The cost associated with turning an office into apartments is large, and there isn’t a demand for it in Downtown. There needs to be a bigger push on the periphery of downtown for apartments, which will eventually drive demand in Downtown. Part of the reason that Downtown is such an unattractive area is because so few people live there. The restaurants are, for the most part, crappy sub shops, fast food, or cheap bar/grills, because the vast majority of their consumer base is nothing more than the 9-5 work crowd. If more people lived in the area, the demand for nicer neighborhood restaurants would pick up, as would the demand for better retailers, entertainment options, etc.

    Frankly, I liked the Equitable tag. It was a defining point of Atlanta’s skyline, and it gave a sense of character to an otherwise drab building.

  9. A bit over dramatic, aren’t we?

    #1- If your favorite feature of the Atlanta skyline is the Equitable building, you have issues.

    #2- Clearly it will be re-branded from 100 P’tree if they get a new anchor tenant. If replacing the name of a defunct insurance company with an actual living, breathing organization/tenant is losing your soul…

    #3- Willis Tower, AON Center, US Bank Tower, JP Morgan Chase Tower, Wells Fargo Plaza, Key Tower, American Intl Bldg, 40 Wall Street….golly, a quick look at the tallest buildings in the US (which I assume would have more significance than the Equitable Bldg) show that using your logic Chicago, New York, Houston, Cleveland, Dallas, etc. etc. etc. have all ‘sold their soul’ too.

    Point- the meme that Atlanta craps on its history is tired and outdated. Please don’t perpetuate it with stupid statements.

  10. Harsh, Urbanist, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think this area of downtown is very attractive. Fairlie-Poplar has some of my favorite streetscapes in Atlanta and the plaza in front of the Equitable (which I will never refer to as 100 Peachtree — stoopid) is very well done.

    Sit at a table in front of that Starbucks and look over the fountains of Woodruff park and the beautiful old buildings of Broad Street. It’s a great urban experience for me.

    “so few people live there”? Really? Thousands of people live here in residential buildings like Muses, the William Oliver, the Healey, 123 Luckie, 90 Poplar and more.

    And if you need some restaurant recommendations, I suggest Lunacy Black Market, Social Resto, Meehans, Cafe Intermezzo and Terrace.

    Sounds like your perception of downtown is about 15 years out of whack to me.

  11. Fun fact to toss in: the Equitable building in Atlanta was the first building to ever have it’s name prominently placed at the top, and thus visible in pictures of the skyline.

    As iconic as it is, I don’t understand why they have to rename it, especially because that company no longer exists. Heck, they’ve never changed the name of the Chrysler building despite the fact that the Chrysler family sold it in the 1940’s and it’s changed hands several times since.

  12. @ Darin – I didn’t mean to imply that there isn’t some good architecture Downtown. What I meant is that it is an unattractive place to live, spend your free time at. I’ve been to all of those restaurants you’ve mentioned. Social Resto is on the northern cusp of what is the worst of all Downtown areas. In a recent trip to Lunacy, the street scene down Peachtree on a Saturday night was disappointing to say the least. Meehan’s, really?

    I also never said that nobody lived there, I said “so few” do, and when you look at the number of people that live in Downtown, relative to the other parts of the city, it’s staggeringly small. It’s even more severe, where you consider that Downtown should have the best urban population in the city, and it’s not even close. For example, within a .5mi/1mi radius of the Equitable Building, the population is 4,672 / 25,949. The same figure from 10th & Peachtree is 11,964 / 38,091. Now, of those two neighborhoods, which is more desirable, has better restaurant options, less crime, and better retailers?

    @ Clicker – I’ll be at it as many times as needed until people get the point. It shouldn’t take this many, I agree.

  13. What point, Urbanist?

    The one where you just love city living and you wish ‘we’ were a denser, more walkable, more transit oriented urban environment?

    Or the point that you just love city living and you wish ‘they’ would build a denser, more walkable, more transit oriented urban environment?

  14. @ Clicker – The point that a lot of Atlanta’s problems could be solved, or at least improved, if we and they embraced a more urban style of planning, development, and lifestyle. They can zone and promote denser development and more diverse development; they can create more relationships with different developers big and small; they can undertake meaningful projects that make a difference to the city, rather than ones that just look good in the newspaper. We can throw more support into our city, by spending more time in it, and less trying to run away from it over things like $2 parking; we can make better decisions about how we transport ourselves, how we live, and the type of resources we require; we can stop trying to hideout in little enclaves of comfortable and similar demographics, and indulge in a little diversity every now and then.

  15. “What I meant is that it is an unattractive place to live”

    I wholeheartedly disagree, Urbanist. As does my wife, our son and the thousands of others who enjoy living downtown. It’s an attractive, exciting place for us.

    Please accept some friendly advice: your often caustic, belligerent style of addressing these issues does neither you nor the cause of good urbanism no favors. It’s obvious that you’re very intelligent and have some excellent ideas for improving the urban environment of Atlanta. Please allows those ideas to shine instead of scuttling them with and unpleasant, angry presentation.

    I belong to a local community of wonderful people who promote smart-growth initiatives and walkable density. I hope that readers of this blog understand that most of us are likable, friendly people who care deeply about the well-being of our city.

  16. 100 Peachtree is not a bad generic name. People I talk to all know 1180 Peachtree (only the most iconic building in Midtown), 1075 Peachtree (the “new one”), 999 Peachtree (Jamestown), 1100 Peachtree (Oceanaire), and of course 191 Peachtree (191 Club?). 100 Peachtree may take some getting used to and I am sure that people will still call it the Equitable Building, but the new name is not that bad at all.

    Also, it may be iconic for Atlanta for obvious reasons, and slightly iconic in building world, but it is neither tall nor unique. Every major city has at least one if not five SOM (architect was Skidmore Owings and Merrill) buildings that look exactly the same, if not taller. The Sears Tower, ahem Willis Tower, is designed by the same architectural firm, as is the John Hancock tower in Chicago. They are both 2-3 times as tall.

    I am also glad that GSU lost the bid. This building needs good solid Class B office/corporate tenants. Our Class A space is absorbing fast with Class B tenants moving up, but that is leaving our Class B and C buildings with much higher vacancies. This is probably the best B building in town and as such it should do well with proper upgrades and proper marketing.

    It was never meant to be occupied by a school or by apartments (I agree with Urbanist here). I also agree with Urbanist in that the periphery of downtown will have to be populated before the core of downtown is. That is simple logic, in my humble opinion.

  17. It’s not that serious. I’m excited to see what new signage will be featured as well as what GSU will renovate or build in that area to accommodate it’s need for space.

  18. Seriously?!?!? Is it that slow of a news day? Equitable left Atlanta a decade ago and no one cared then. Does the author realize the building is not being blown up? Any business moving in would want their name on the building. Branding is not a bad word. In other news, my dog pooped today.

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