2 office complexes are now for sale in 2 major US cities

New York City office buildings are bustling once again, but the post-pandemic return to the 9-to-5 grind remains uneven across the country’s office stock.

Two massive, iconic office complexes in Atlanta and Philadelphia hit the market this week after years of financial setbacks and dwindling tenancy. 

The landmarked Peachtree Center in Downtown Atlanta is up for grabs, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported on Tuesday.

The historic six-tower complex and its accompanying retail hub spans 2.5 million square feet and counts the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Habitat for Humanity among its tenants.

The modernist towers, connected by soaring sky bridges, were once a testament to downtown Atlanta’s revival in the 1960s and ’70s, cast as “a city within a city.” It even earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

The complex long held court in the city’s hotel-convention district, but occupancy rates in the interconnected complex now range from 8% to 74%, according to marketing materials from brokerage and consulting firm JLL. A short walk away sits the colossal convention hotel, Hilton Atlanta, which sold at a foreclosure auction in March.

The desertion of Peachtree Center contrasts with Atlanta’s broader office market, where visits are down only 14.8% compared to 2019 levels, according to the Placer.ai Office Index.

Marketing materials from JLL state that the property is “likely to trade at a discounted basis.” The six towers’ public appraisal amounted to $121 million.

Nearly 800 miles northeast, a pair of once-dominant office towers are similarly on the sales block.

Center Square, the largest office property in Philadelphia, is on the market, Philadelphia Business reported on Monday. CBRE listing agent Jerry Kranzel told the outlet that the 1.76 million-square-foot property is expected to fetch more than $100 million — a value far below the $375 million overdue CMBS loan backing the hulking towers.

The concrete towers of Centre Square stand just across from Philadelphia’s historic City Hall, but the distressed property is reportedly just 36% occupied — a stark drop from the 63% occupancy recently reported by The Real Deal in January.

Centre Square will be marketed as a conversion property, according to reports, primed to become its very own “city within a city,” as residences, retail spaces or a hotel.