ATLANTA-The law firm of Fisher & Phillips recently signed a 12-year lease for 50,000 square feet on two floors at the 1075 Peachtree St. complex in Atlanta’s 12^th & Midtown mixed-use development.

The 725,000-square-foot office component at 1075 Peachtree St., which is Phase II of the 12th & Midtown development, was completed in January 2010. The 1075 Peachtree St. complex is a $493-million project with a 414-room Loews Atlanta Hotel, 52 condominiums and 60,000 square feet of retail, in addition to the office space. The 12^th & Midtown development covers a four-block area near Peachtree Street and 11^th Street.

Kay Davis, senior vice president at the tenant advisory group and the law firm group at Grubb & Ellis in Atlanta, who represented Fisher & Phillips, says that her client benefited from the recession which gave the  law firm lots of buildings to choose from. “When we looked in the Midtown and Buckhead submarkets, there were so many new projects coming online, that we decided to wait until they were almost finished and take advantage of the economics of the situation,” she says.

Still, says Davis, “It wasn’t so much the low rent that attracted Fisher & Phillips to the 1075 Peachtree Street complex.” There were other factors, such as flexibility in terms of expansion, contraction and termination options, she says.

At 1075 Peachtree St., Fisher & Phillips will have panoramic views of Piedmont Park and downtown Atlanta. The building has ample conferencing and meeting space and a state-of-the-art fitness center, according to Grubb & Ellis material on the building.

Fisher & Phillips will move into its new space in November 2010 after being at Resurgens Plaza in Buckhead since 1988. Davis says that the Fisher & Phillips’ lease includes an option to renew at the market rate in 12 years. “There is no dollar amount, but there is a full page in the lease which gives the definition of market rate,” she says.

The building is currently 30% occupied and could be 50% leased, assuming that the two letters of intent signed by prospective tenants for 20,000 square feet and 140,000 square feet turn into leases in the next 90 days to 120 days, says Doug Guedry, vice president for office leasing at the Daniel Corp., one of the developers of the 12^th & Midtown project. He adds that he is also negotiating for another 30,000 square feet.

Guedry declined to reveal the financial details of any one lease at 1075 Peachtree, citing confidentiality agreements, but he did say that for every deal he does, tenants usually get concessions in the form of free rent or half rent for a period, but then, in the third or fourth year of the leases, the rents escalate.

Guedry did reveal the range of asking rental rates at the building, which are $24 to $26 per square foot net, with estimated operating expenses of $11.25. Tenant improvement allowances are $40 per square foot below the semi-finished ceiling.