Millennials Help Atlanta Office Market Win Special Status

Transwestern Development Company is building a trophy asset in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter.

ATLANTA—Atlanta is among America’s top 10 tech talent markets. That’s according to CBRE ‘s annual “Scoring Tech Talent” report. Specifically, Atlanta ranks ninth in the firm’s 50-city Tech Talent Scorecard. Atlanta has posted a 47% growth rate in tech talent since 2010. CBRE also characterizes it as a strong “momentum market.” Millennials are a prime factor . Atlanta ranks among the top 10 markets in terms of the concentration of Millennials and is also a top 10 market for tech degrees earned. With an educational attainment rate of 49%, Atlanta keeps attracting tech talent and ranks as a top 10 market with high future growth potential. “The technology sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of office demand in Atlanta, and we are seeing the office market respond to that demand in some interesting ways,” Christian Devlin, CBRE Tech & Media Practice Leader, tells GlobeSt.com. “In order to attract technology and creative companies, many existing office buildings are renovating their common areas to feel more creative and building out social areas that are available to tenants in those buildings. Additionally, we are noticing that new office developments are incorporating creative and collaborative design features to directly appeal to the tech and creative users.” It’s no surprise that San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, DC, and Seattle took the top spots on this year’s Tech Talent Scorecard again. But according to the CBRE report, more highly skilled tech works—especially Millennials—are flocking to cities with a growing tech presence like Atlanta. Office space cost has increased since 2011, but Atlanta still presents the lowest cost in CBRE’s analysis of the cost of doing business, including occupancy costs, talent, and management wages. In fact, Atlanta presents the lowest office rents among the top 10 markets, despite a 12% increase in office rent growth over the last five years, with average office rents at $22.66,  Although there was an increase, 12% is the second lowest increase among the top 10 markets, outpacing only Baltimore. Atlanta also claims the second-lowest multifamily rent to tech pay ratio among the top 10 markets, behind only Raleigh-Durham. The ratio is less than half that of New York and nearly half that of Long Island, Los Angeles and San Francisco, offering an affordable option for those hoping to avoid high costs of living. “Tech talent markets share several distinct characteristics, including high concentrations of college educated workers, major universities producing tech graduates and large millennial populations,” says Colin Yasukochi , who authored the report on behalf of CBRE Research. “The robust entrance of Millennials into the labor pool contributed greatly to the growth in tech talent across all 50 downtown markets in our ranking this year.