In a deal that Eola Capital kept amazingly quiet (until the Rooster got word of it, of course), the Orlando-based company gained control of several landmark Atlanta office properties previously owned by America's Capital Partners. Eola's $1.1 billion buyout of ACP's managing partner positions in Peachtree Center, 10 Ten Street (formerly Millennium in Midtown) and Piedmont 14 catapulted Eola to regal status in Atlanta. Breaking the news about the transaction helped put Real Estate Rooster on the map.

After initially flirting with some of the glitzy-but-empty new Buckhead office towers and 64 Perimeter Center East, AutoTrader.com picked Perimeter Summit as its new home. The opportunity for great signage very close to parent Cox Enterprises proved too big a lure for the online auto trading empire. Technically, this deal is not done, but CB Richard Ellis Vice Chairman John Shlesinger is said to be working his magic to ensure all the pieces fall into place. This likely will include relocating some tenants such as Hewitt Associates. The deal was syrupy sweet for CB Richard Ellis because CBRE's Eric Ross and Brad Jancik serve as landlord reps in the deal.

The June 1 announcement that ATM-maker NCR Corp. would relocate its headquarters to Gwinnett County cheered up the moribund office market. And by the fall, the tangible results of the relo came to light as NCR signed a 10-year lease for 120,000 square feet at 700 Satellite Place. Chalk up another deal for John Ferguson and John Shlesinger of CBRE. John Bell and Sarah Smith of Crescent Resources represented the landlord.

In October, Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital Group won the bidding contest for the assets of the failed Corus Bank, and reverberations of the $2.8 billion deal were felt across Atlanta. Corus' loans helped fund The Atlantic at Atlantic Station, The Brookwood in tony Buckhead, The Reynolds in sort-of Midtown, One River Place in Sandy Springs. The Atlantic and Brookwood, both beautiful buildings, sit in a zombie-like state, waiting for Starwood to decide what to do with the condo towers.

When Research In Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry smart phone isn't scrambling to restore lost service, it's quietly making deals for data centers. Last spring, RIM completed a top-secret deal for a new data center on 40 acres near North Point Mall in Alpharetta. Two related companies, Holder Properties and Holder Construction, hit pay dirt on this techie transaction.

In a shocking development that would have warranted huge headlines if the paper itself were not the subject, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution completed a lease for space at 223 Perimeter Center West. The AJC signed for 127,823 square feet at the Macy's Southeast building, according to Colliers Spectrum Cauble. The paper, which has been shrinking its staff and number of pages lately, will vacate its long-time home on Marietta Street this year. John Shlesinger, who has a great relationship with the Cox family, represented the paper.

The deal that had been talked about, tweeted about and texted about for months finally was consummated in July. Insurance conglomerate/risk advisor Marsh leased about 125,000 square feet at Tishman Speyer's Two Alliance Center, which really needed this lease. Chris Ahrenkiel represented Tishman Speyer. Cushman & Wakefield's Team JOW - Travis Jackson, John O'Neill, Chris White and Addison Meriwether - represented Marsh and probably got their client an incredibly high TI allowance.

In September, the Rooster reported that "downtown boosters apparently have helped persuade KPMG to stay downtown." By year end, the accounting firm struck a deal with Portman Holdings to renew at SunTrust Plaza for about 150,000 square feet. Tenant rep credit (and hopefully full commission) goes to the Cushman & Wakefield team of Andy Ghertner, John Izard, Ian Henderson and John Winter.

Rockefeller Developer Group Corp. entered the Atlanta industrial market in a huge way by being selected to develop a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center in Social Circle for Cheerios-maker General Mills. King Industrial President Sim Doughtie, who in partnership with William P. Nichols and Jim Schnir of Corporate Service Consortium, represented General Mills, said the $42 million development would be one of the largest DC's ever built to Silver LEED certification standards.