Zell couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But area brokers familiar with the transaction tell GlobeSt.com the land will probably be used for a near-future, mixed-use development.

Equity Office paid MetLife $6.6 million or $942,857 per acre ($21.65 per sf) for the dirt which is currently zoned for high-rise office towers, according to Databank, a locally based commercial real estate research house.

The tract is at Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway in Perimeter Center, the area's largest office hub. Local planning officials for several years have envisioned a transit-themed mixed-use venture at the site. A mixed-use undertaking would require a rezoning status from the city, local planners tell GlobeSt.com.

The land is within the Central Perimter Community Improvement District, a project pushed by Zell for the last four years to improve traffic and bring back tenants who had fled to north Fulton County office locations after road congestion impeded business growth.

Equity purchased a 32-building complex at Perimeter Center in 1997 from Boston-based Beacon Properties for an undisclosed sum. A five-year option buy the adjacent seven acres was part of the deal.