The Deerfield building, the second of two phases of construction, opened in July 2001 on a speculative basis. Current tenants include Nike, Toyota Motor Credit Corp., GMAC and GATX Rail.

The Lafarge lease brings occupancy to "between 84% and 85%," David Barry, co-director of leasing and management at Barry, the developer of the property, tells GlobeSt.com. "It sure feels better today than it did a week ago, considering recent market conditions." Nearly 30,000 sf are still available in the building.

"When you take what's directly available in that market, plus sublet space and phantom vacancies that are not on the market, the area is surely 35% vacant," he says.

Deerfield Point, west of GA 400 off Windward Parkway on Morris Road within Deerfield, is a mixed-use development consisting of 554 acres of offices, retail, hotels, and multifamily residential buildings.

Lafarge, a construction materials supplier, will relocate several of its companies from Parkway Center in Marietta, GA, when its current lease expires on Sept. 1, and consolidate many of its Atlanta-area employees under one roof.

Patrick Duffy and Monty Harris, then with Julien J. Studley in Atlanta, represented Lafarge. The brokers have since moved to Newmark's Atlanta office.