ATLANTA—Sterling Pointe office complex in Atlanta's Central Perimeter submarket has traded hands. Rubenstein Partners sold the office building to a joint venture of Harbert Management Corporation and The Simpson Organization.

Sterling Pointe consists of two neighboring office buildings, Sterling Pointe I and Sterling Pointe II. The office buildings span 351,345 square feet. 

After acquiring the office asset, Rubenstein executed a business plan to add value by repositioning the asset through building renovations, stabilizing occupancy, and creating a mixed-use, amenity-rich environment. The firm also paved the way for hotel and retail space by selling 3.5 acres of former parking lot as a new development site. A hotel is currently under construction, with completion expected in January 2016.  Retail stores, including amenity retail in the form of a Corner Bakery Café and restaurants, will open this fall.

“An important element of our strategy is to be embedded in our major market areas, which we believe positions us to understand and execute a comprehensive value-add strategy customized to each asset,” David Canaday, senior vice president of Rubenstein and regional director for Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. The result of the improvements: significant new leases. Rubenstein, for example, wooed Mercedes-Benz USA with a 89,910-square-foot lease.

“At Sterling Pointe, that meant not just more typical building improvements and attracting credit tenancy, but also recognizing the urbanization trend happening in the Central Perimeter sub-market and bringing that very trend to Sterling Pointe itself,” says Canaday. “We believe we did that by selling surface parking land to a developer who has built a replacement parking deck and has an onsite hotel, retail and restaurant development underway. Existing and prospective tenants indicate they love it.”

CBRE brokered the transaction. William C. Yowell, Jay O'Meara, and Justin Parsonnet of CBRE marketed Sterling Pointe. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.