Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in between Midtown Atlanta and Downtown Atlanta. At 312 m (1,024 ft) the tower is the 87th-tallest building in the world. It is the 11th tallest building in the U.S., the tallest building in Georgia and the tallest building in any U.S. state capital. It has 55 stories of office space and was completed in 1992, when it was called NationsBank Plaza. Originally intended to be the headquarters for Citizens & Southern National Bank (which merged with Sovran Bank during construction), it became NationsBank's property following its formation in the 1991 hostile takeover of C&S/Sovran by NCNB.
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Architectural details
The building was developed by Cousins Properties and designed by the architectural firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC. Designed in the Art Déco style, it was built in only 14 months, one of the fastest construction schedules for any 1,000 ft (300 m) building. The Plaza's imposing presence is heightened by the dark color of its exterior. It soars into the sky with vertical lines that reinforce its height while also creating an abundance of revenue-generating corner offices. Located over 3.7 acres (1.5 ha) on Peachtree Street.
There is a 90 ft (27 m) obelisk-like spire at the top of the building echoing the shape of the building as a whole. Most of the spire is covered in 23 karat (96 percent) gold leaf. The open-lattice steel pyramid underneath the obelisk glows yellow-orange at night due to lighting. Originally, the lattice was designed to be clad in glass, but the engineers failed to take the weight of the glass into account. At its most basic, this is a modern interpretation of the Art Deco theme seen in the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. The inhabited part of the building actually ends abruptly with a flat roof. On top of this is built a pyramid of girders, which are gilded and blaze at night, with the same type of yellow-orange high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting now used in most street lights. Its design has been characterized as similar to the Messeturm in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
The skyscraper, built at a 45-degree angle to the city's street grid, is set back off its eastern and western street boundaries, Peachtree Street and West Peachtree Street, by over 50 yards (45 m). This setback is filled, variously, by driveways, parking garage entrances, potted plants, granite staircases, and sloping lawns. The building directly abuts the sidewalk on North Avenue, its northern boundary, with access to this street through a parking garage entrance and stairs leading from the building's main lobby.
Some urban planners decry the building as a Corbusian "tower in a park", as it actively disengages itself from the urban environment surrounding it, entirely omitting sidewalk-facing retail space. Critics argue that the building encourages its tenants to access it primarily by car and to remain inside the complex during the day. However it is across the street from the MARTA-rail North Avenue station.
In recent years, developers have rumored that the land under the surrounding driveways and lawns may soon be ripe for redevelopment into low- and mid-rise mixed-use buildings with street-fronting uses as the area urbanizes and the value of land in Midtown Atlanta increases. As of 2014, new sidewalks, pavers, ADA ramps, pedestrian light-poles, improved tree wells, new bike racks and landscaping are in planning stages. These neighborhood improvements are slated to be completed by 2016 at a cost of $1.04 million.
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Renovations and sustainable building initiative
?, a $30 million renovation to the lobby, health club, and conference facility was completed It has also achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. The building and property management were awarded Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce E3 Liquid Assets, a recognition in water sustainability. Midtown Atlanta's Midtown Alliance also recognized it as an EcoDistrict Green Luminary for its significant commitment to sustainability practices.
Beginning in 2016, $15 million will be invested over the next few years to significantly modernize the common areas including the lobby, west wing and some deferred maintenance.
Building ownership
According to published reports in Commercial Property News and Commercial Mortgage Alert, the building was sold for $436 million - a record price at $348 per square foot ($3746 per square meter) - to BentleyForbes, a Los Angeles real estate investment firm headed by C. Frederick Wehba. That was offset by the tower's foreclosure in 2012 when LNR and lenders took the loan back from BentleyForbes for $235 million, half its peak price.
In 2013, CWCapital Asset Management, division of CW Financial Services, took over the asset management, sponsoring and representing the building's bond holders from LNR. Together with real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield and property manager Onyx Equities, they planned for the building is undergoing capital improvements though - a multi-million comeback that was expected to top $30 million by 2018.
In 2016, San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties acquired Bank of America Plaza under its Shorenstein Realty Investors Eleven LP, a $1.2 billion fund. CBRE was hired to head leasing efforts. Shorenstein plans to rebrand the building by modernizing the common areas and leasing up vacant space.
As of 2016, the largest tenant is the law firm of Troutman Sanders.
In popular culture
The building appears as the headquarters of Westgroup Energy in the AMC period drama Halt and Catch Fire.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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