The project is slated to have 500,000 sf of combined class A office and retail space, along with 99 condo homes starting at $1 million.

That undertaking is competing for sky-high honors with the Mansion, a $165-million, 50-story structure under construction. The 686-foot building is rising at 3376 Peachtree Rd., as GlobeSt.com previously reported. John A. Williams, for the former chairman of locally based Post Properties Inc., and Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot Inc., are co-investors in the Mansion.

Regent Partners president David Allman calls his group's groundbreaking "an exciting time for Buckhead and the Peachtree Road corridor." Allman says "this area of Peachtree Road enjoys a long history in leading the urbanization of Buckhead. It began in the 1960s with Lenox Square, continued with Tower Place in the 70s, the Ritz-Carlton and Monarch Plaza in the 80s, and was followed by the office development boom of the 90s."

Allman says, "Each time the skeptics questioned the growth, and each time the growth was proven timely and successful." The developer adds his investment group is "proud to have the opportunity to continue this growth and is determined to maximize the potential of this significant site."

The condo component will have its own lobby and Concierge Club service on the 28th level, and will also be named and "given a distinctive brand identity," says David Tennery, principal, office properties and development for Regent Partners. The office component will simply be called 3344 Peachtree Road. "This new millennium is taking Buckhead into quintessential new urbanism with the development of vertical mixed-use residential, business and shopping communities," Tennery says.

Locally based Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Associates designed the 3344 Peachtree Road building. Gill Garrison, a principal at the architectural firm, calls the design "unique for a building of its height." Garrison says the design is "an asymmetrical, kinetic composition that will present itself in a variety of ways on the skyline, depending on which vantage point you see it from."

The architect adds, "It will be one of those rare, truly memorable projects where everyone will have a particular view of the building that will be their own personal favorite."

Buckhead's current tallest building is the 486-foot, 44-story Park Avenue Condos built in 2000, according to GlobeSt.com research. The tallest building in metro Atlanta is the 55-story Bank of America Plaza at 1,023 sf. The 60-story SunTrust Plaza, built in 1992 at a height of 871 feet, has the most floors at 60.