Growing Accounting Firm Abandons Tight Downtown Office Market for More Space in Suburbs

Growing companies are moving out of the tight Downtown and Midtown Atlanta markets to find space for larger operations.

Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, the largest independent accounting firm in Atlanta, has been a fixture in Midtown Atlanta for 28 years. Come November, however, the 170-person firm will leave its urban home and head north to spacious new digs in the Ga. 400 corridor, some 15 miles north of downtown.

The accountants have signed a 10-year lease for 49,000 sf in the new Glenridge Highlands Two complex. The estimated value of the lease is $9.8 million.

Habif Arogeti will be the first tenant for the 20-story, 414,000-sf office tower being developed on 13 acres by The Hogan Group of Tampa. Rental rates in the market average $20 psf.

With the move, the firm will consolidate its work force currently housed in two separate Midtown locations. Room to grow was the major drive behind the move, says Jonathan L. Miller, the firm’s managing partner.

The company currently occupies 28,000 sf of space in a building it owns and 10,800 sf in leased space. It will retain ownership of its building in the super-heated Midtown market and lease out the space.

Insignia/ESG represented Habif Arogeti in its space search and leasing negotiations.