Downtown Macy's Building Sale a Done Deal

ATLANTA—Taconic Investment Partners and Benenson Capital Co. of New York are paying Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores an estimated $40 million or $66.66 psf for the 73-year-old, 600,000-sf downtown Macy’s department store building.

In a 20-year lease with extension options, Federated is taking three floors—the Cellar, first floor and mezzanine—for a more compact Macy’s department store. The store previously had merchandise on four floors.

The new owners plan to convert the top five floors of the six-story building to high-tech office and telecom switching space. The 360,000 sf of floors two through five in the newly renamed AtlantaXchange is expected to house 500 to 800 employees.

In addition to being in the center of the downtown business district and close to a MARTA rail station, the building is also near fiber-optic trunk lines, a draw for telecom firms.