Southern Company Gas Relocates Midtown Headquarters in Largest Atlanta Lease of 2024

The natural gas division of the nation’s third-largest electric utility is on the move.

725 W. Peachtree St., formerly known as AT&T Midtown Center II, will soon be home to Southern Company Gas.

Southern Company Gas, a division of Southern Co., has leased more than 260,000 square feet at Midtown Center II, the eight-story, 282,000-square-foot building at 725 W. Peachtree St., according to sources familiar with the transaction . Bisnow.

The deal means Southern Company Gas will move from its home at 10 Peachtree Place, a half-mile north of its future Midtown Center campus.

The company occupies 255,000 square feet at 10 Peachtree Place, a 20-story, red granite-clad tower owned by PGIM, according to data provided by Avison Young. The move would leave the nearly 35-year-old building vacant.

The move marks the largest office lease in Atlanta so far this year, eclipsing the renewal of Manhattan Associates’ 209,000-square-foot headquarters in the Wildwood office park in County Cobb.

CBRE Investment Management owns the two-building, 800,000-square-foot Midtown Center campus sandwiched between Peachtree and West Peachtree streets. It acquired it in 2015, when the asset management subsidiary was called CBRE Global Investors, for $260 million.

Spokespeople for Southern Co. and CBRE declined to comment, as did Leigh Martin, senior managing director of JLL, who represents Southern Co. Representatives for PGIM did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Southern Company Gas — which operates Atlanta Gas Light, Virginia Natural Gas, Northern Illinois Gas Co. and Chattanooga Gas — is the latest major Atlanta company to move its headquarters this year.

Piedmont Healthcare of Atlanta signed a 164,000-square-foot lease in April at 271 17th St. in Atlantic Station, planning to consolidate three offices, including its Cobb County campus, into one location and reduce its footprint by more than 50 %.

Newell Brands, which owns brands like Rubbermaid, Oster and Sharpie, plans to move nearly 1,000 workers from its headquarters at 6655 Peachtree Dunwoody Road to 181,000 square feet at the Queen Building in Sandy Springs.