One of the first towers could be Regent Partners' planned 500,000-sf, 27-story building near the developers' Tower Place 100 structure at 3340 Peachstreet St. near Piedmont Road, brokers familiar with developer David Allman's plans tell GlobeSt.com. The estimated hard construction cost, at a minimum $150 per sf, would probably be about $75 million, brokers say.

The site for the new office project, near the Atlanta Financial Center, is currently a parking lot. A groundbreaking is being considered for 2005, brokers interested in the project tell GlobeSt.com. The Regent Partners building would be Buckhead's first office development in five years. The last major office building to open in Buckhead in 1999 was One Alliance Center on Lenox Road, owned by Toronto-based Trizec Properties.

Other national developers reported to be considering new office developments in Buckhead are Crescent Resources of Charlotte, NC; Equity Office Properties of Chicago; Novare Group/Wood Partners, Pope & Land Co., and Songy Partners Ltd., all based in Atlanta.

Statistically, Buckhead is the ideal location for new development, brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Vacancies are the lowest and rents the highest in this affluent entertainment-center sector. Locally based Bullock Mannelly Partners Inc. puts the overall average vacancy mark in Buckhead at 20.5% with average quoted rents at $22.69 per sf. Vacancies in other area submarkets are in the 25% to 30% range.

First-quarter net absorption in Buckhead was a positive 111,045 sf, compared to negative net absorptions in several area submarkets. The total rentable office space is 13.5 million sf among Buckhead's 94 buildings.