Vacant office tower near Northlake Mall could be revamped into apartments

Tucker planning staff members recommended a slight reduction in apartments — closer to 190 units — to preserve some room for smaller office tenants. However, Jeff Taylor, executive vice president at JLL, said there’s a lack of demand for office space near the mall, especially for an empty office tower built in 2001.

“The vacancy in the office market is about 25% in Tucker and the Northlake submarket,” he said during the May 19 meeting.

The nine-story office building has nearly 316,000 square feet of currently unused space, and the 6.4-acre site already has a deck with roughly 1,200 parking spots. In plans submitted to the city, the office space would be transformed into 151 one-bedroom units, each about 765 square feet, and 65 two-bedroom units, each about 1,450 square feet.

SDM Northlake also owns the neighboring property to the west, which is another vacant office building that was also previously occupied by AT&T. The 7.3-acre plot was previously rezoned to allow SDM Northlake to build an 80-unit rental townhome community, and both the townhomes and apartments would share the same parking and amenities. The proposed amenities include a clubroom lounge, co-working space, a fitness center, a dog spa, a pool and a terrace.

The proposed plan includes 216 units and would be coupled with a nearby rental townhome project, which will have the same developer.

Credit: City of Tucker

Credit: City of Tucker

The proposed plan includes 216 units and would be coupled with a nearby rental townhome project, which will have the same developer.

Credit: City of Tucker

Credit: City of Tucker

“It’s a great opportunity to increase the health of the office market by taking some supply offline,” Hank Farmer, managing partner of Third and Urban, said during last week’s meeting.

The planning commission only makes recommendations for the City Council. The project will go before the council for the first time June 13, meaning it likely won’t come up for a vote until July at the earliest.