As part of the purchase deal, the Birmingham, AL-based REIT leased the third-floor and fourth-floor space back to the law firm for 10 years. Swift Currie also leases an addition 8,200 sf adjacent to its 49,907-sf quarters.

Colonial acquired a 76% ownership interest in the Peachtree in August when the REIT paid a partnership of Prudential Real Estate Advisors and TMW Real Estate $43.8 million, or $168 per sf, for the 20-story Midtown structure at 1355 Peachtree St. NE, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. The sale-leaseback deal closed at year-end 2005 but wasn't disclosed by Colonial until Jan. 20.

Tom Hallowell, senior vice president of Colonial's office division in Atlanta; executive vice president Bo Jackson; and Barbara Pooley, senior vice president, investor relations, couldn't be reached by GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn the price the REIT paid for the law firm's space and the estimated aggregate value of the 10-year lease.

However, Midtown office brokers familiar with the submarket tell GlobeSt.com Colonial probably paid about the same price for the Swift Currie space as it did for the 260,000 sf acquired from Prudential/TMW. That would place the estimated purchase price of the 49,907 sf at about $8 million, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

Midtown brokers who represent building owners in leasing deals tell GlobeSt.com the leaseback deal with Swift Currie probably went down at about $23 per sf or an estimated aggregate rent value of $11 million. Richard Bowers & Co. shows the average asking base rent for class A Midtown space as $23.44 per sf.

Other tenants in the Peachtree are Kurt Salmon Associates;, Ashe, Rafuse & Hill LLC; Huff, Powell & Bailey LLC; Windham Brannon PC; and Doffermyre Shields Canfield Knowles & Devine LLC.