2007-08-30 BUSINESS POST
Duke Realty maintains N. Fulton presence New corporate HQ, re-upped leases punctuate success
by Jason Wright	write the author
Wes Hardy September 06, 2007 If you ask Wes Hardy, a leasing representative for Duke Realty Corp., the key to building and selling office space in Alpharetta, it is the town itself. Specifically, its schools, parks and beautiful homes. "The big picture is, we have an office market of new, class A office space close to communities in the middle of an upscale area," he said. Duke has had a banner year in the North Fulton area, announcing solid deals that keep its Northwinds Center office park vital and growing. In July, Duke announced it leased 54,000 square feet of office space in three transactions at Northwinds I, a building in the complex. The three companies that moved in – Plano, Texas-based Electronic Data Systems, Dayton, Ohio-based Standard Register Co. and Alpharetta-based Sivica – bumped Northwinds I's lease percentage to 82 percent. The entire Northwinds Center office park is 95 percent leased. Since February, the company re-tenanted 137,000 square feet of space vacated in 2006 and 2007. "Our efforts to re-tenant Northwinds I prove North Fulton's desirability as an office location," said Craig Flanagan, Duke vice president of leasing. "With a steadily growing economy and the area's amenity and residential base, we expect the North Fulton office market to continue to tighten." Hardy agreed, saying that there is a direct correlation between the area's high quality office space and residential properties. "The two play off one another, and at this stage in the game, there's no reason to believe [North Fulton] won't be long term as long as it's not overbuilt," he said. The company also announced in January that it sold a 9.4 acre site at Northwinds Center to Jackson Healthcare Solutions. It will develop a five-story, 160,000-square-foot headquarters office building in a distinctive "Italian Villa" fashion. Jackson Healthcare, which provides clinician staffing, anesthesia management and information technology solutions, will move from its current location on Mansell Road in Alpharetta. It expects the new building will accommodate the anticipated growth from 250 local employees to more than 700 in the next five years. Construction started in May, 2007. Jackson Healthcare expects to move in June 2008. "Duke not only offered the best location for this e critical development in the life of our company, but also provided every service we needed -- from design and construction to leasing and management," said R. Shae Jackson of Jackson Healthcare. "That made our decision easier." Northwinds Center is located at Haynes Bridge Road and Ga. 400. It is a 258-acre, seven-building office and retail complex with more than 1.1 million square feet of office space. Purchased by Duke in 2004, the complex includes 10 restaurants, two hotels, three banks, two fitness centers and six conference facilities.
A Gwinnett presence Duke realty also operates properties at Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. In June the company sold nearly five acres to Tifton-based GS Development for the Embassy Suites at Sugarloaf hotel, which will also feature a high-end steakhouse. The company will build the 10-story, 234-room hotel and GS Development will own and operate it. Construction is slated to begin in October and should be finished by December, 2008. Earlier in June the company announced it also leased 27,000 square feet of office space at the Huntcrest II office park to locally based Covenant Services Group.

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