ATLANTA—An area of Atlanta that's rife with medical tenants and providers supposedly lacks an adequate amount of “Class A” medical office space, according to a partnership planning to develop a new outpatient healthcare facility near Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital.

The joint venture (JV) partnership of Cornerstone Development Partners and Stein Investment Group, both of Atlanta, has proposed a $65 million, seven-story, 161,000 square foot medical office building (MOB) and retail project for a site near the south end of the Piedmont campus.

The planned building, dubbed Cornerstone Medical Center, would be a redevelopment of four parcels totaling 3.5 acres at 1895 Peachtree Rd. N.E. in Atlanta's Buckhead district. The Atlanta Zoning Commission recently approved the final site plans and zoning conditions for the site, which is east of the intersection of Peachtree and Collier Road Northwest.

Cornerstone Medical Center would include 16,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space, including a Chick-fil-A restaurant, topped by 145,000 square feet of medical office space with 22,300 square foot floor plates. The facility would also include four levels of below-grade parking, including a secure “doctors-only” area with direct, private elevator access to the medical suites.

As of recent weeks, the partnership had not announced whether it has lined up tenants, such as an anchor tenant, for the medical space in the building.

“We have gone through great lengths to research and understand the needs of the medical community as well as their patients so that we can deliver a sophisticated, yet functional space that raises the bar for future developments,” Cornerstone President Robert F. Kern said.

“This combined, four-parcel site is a prime commercial location that has been neglected for years – if not decades – making this a real opportunity to improve the neighborhood while offering a much-needed medical office development,” Cornerstone VP Wesley DeFoor added.

Cornerstone has been working on the project – site assembly, city approvals and addressing neighborhood concerns – since 2012. Early this year, the firm formed the JV with Stein, which has developed several boutique retail projects in the Atlanta area.

The Cornerstone-Stein JV says it expects to break ground this summer and complete the job by 2015.

Cone Middour Partners is handling leasing, and the published lease rate for the medical space is $27 per square foot (PSF), triple net.

But the Cornerstone-Stein JV is not the only developer seeking Class A medical office tenants in Buckhead.

Only about three blocks to the north, near the north end of the Piedmont Hospital campus, Parkside Partners, in partnership with Georgia Hand, Shoulder & Elbow, last year replaced a TGI Friday's restaurant with the five-story, 47,965 square foot 2061 Peachtree. That medical office building (MOB) is 100 percent leased and Parkside is seeking tenants for its five-story, 57,855 square foot Building Two.

Parkside is handling leasing, and the published lease rate is $23.50 PSF.

According to local media reports, both developers say they are in talks with prospective tenants for their respective buildings, but no names have been disclosed.