Eola Capital Emerges as Major Player in Atlanta

Eola Capital Emerges as Major Player in Atlanta

New players in Atlanta Real Estate: EOLA Chairman Jim Heistand and CEO Rudy Touzet

Hey Atlanta commercial real estate industry, better get to know Eola Capital.

The Orlando-based real estate investment firm has gone from a small player in Atlanta to a top landlord overnight. With Eola Capital's $1.1 billion buyout of the managing partner positions of America's Capital Partners, Eola now has more than 5 million square feet of office space in metro Atlanta. That lifts Eola into the rarified air.

With the transaction, announced Thursday, Eola added 7.6 million square feet of space in several eastern seaboard markets to its growing portfolio. Much of its new space is in metro Atlanta. Eola's holdings now include Peachtree Center downtown, Ten 10th Street in Midtown, Piedmont 14 in Buckhead and Two Ravinia in the Central Perimeter.

"We've always liked Atlanta," Eola Capital founder and Chairman Jim Heistand tells the Real Estate Rooster. "I'm glad we don't have anything material in Buckhead, though." Buckhead, he said, is "getting hammered."

But Heistand is excited about Downtown, where Eola now owns the largest office complex - Peachtree Center - in the submarket (and second-largest in metro Atlanta behind Perimeter Center). "Downtown will continue to see a resurgence," he said. "If we didn't believe that, we wouldn't be in it."

Eola's predecessor at Peachtree Center, America's Capital Partners, picked up the six-pack at an attractive price and has a relatively low cost basis in the complex, Heistand said. "[That] will allow us to attract tenants over time" by continuing to offer very competitive lease rates. Heistand said it is Eola's intent to retain CB Richard Ellis as its landlord rep at Peachtree Center.

In Midtown, Heistand said Eola has added a quality building in Ten 10th Street, which also was acquired with a favorable basis. "It's got good parking and always has been fairly well leased," he said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, an anchor tenant at Ten 10th Street, is conducting a space search and could leave the tower. "We've got some time to [backfill the PwC space] if that's the case."

We've heard no brokers were used in the Eola/ACP transaction, but as a landlord, Eola is a big fan of brokers. "We are extremely broker friendly," he said. "We pay [commissions] right away, which is near and dear to a broker's heart."

Heistand stressed that Eola knows Atlanta well because new Eola CEO Rudy Touzet was a co-founder of America's Capital Partners. Therefore, Touzet is very familiar with Eola's new properties. Also, Eola's regional vice president in Atlanta, Bob Stoner, is well established in the city. He spent a dozen years overseeing day-to-day operations in Atlanta for the Rubenstein Co. Eola's tour of its new properties will bring Heistand et. al. to Atlanta in about two weeks.