Buckhead Apartments | Surviving the rental storm in AtlantaÕs midtown

The vast majority of commercial real estate pros, especially developers and brokers, are the most optimistic people you'll ever meet. A hurricane's on the way? Hey, we need the rain, and it's good for our friends in the construction industry and creates development opportunities. A big tenant is leaving the building? That creates revenue opportunities for our leasing agents. They're wired to see the upside.

Buckhead's office market also elicits positive reaction from those leasing and developing properties, but privately, many of their peers will tell you, "Glad it's not me."

That's not to say the situation is entirely dire or a reason for hysteria. With 2.5 million square feet of office construction underway or announced and the majority of it speculative, there's bound to be softness, but as one of our broker friends says, "These guys aren't stupid."

Will some developers struggle to lease and stabilize their properties? It's highly likely. But a bloodbath where buildings sit empty for years and lenders take them back ... that would be an economic calamity unseen in Atlanta since Sherman's March to the sea. These developers and owners Ð the Cousins Properties, Tishman Speyers, Dukes, Pope & Lands and Regent Partners, among others, of the world Ð are too savvy and experienced to dig too deep a hole.

Still, this is Atlanta, where the philosophy is to overbuild, feel the short-term sting and rebound. Some will feel the sting more than others, especially owners who have to backfill vacant space as tenants play inter-market musical chairs and depart for newer properties.

One group is poised to benefit, though: tenants. If you're a tenant looking for Class-A office space over the next two years, you're the belle of the ball.

The border between the Fashionable Buckhead Community and Trendy Midtown has been experiencing a renaissance of activity and improvements that even The New York Times has acknowledged in their travel section.

The worldÕs busiest airport, many fortune 500 corporations, many schools such as Emory University, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Oglethorpe University, the CDC, as well as numerous other Medical Universities are growing and expanding, creating a growing number of new jobs, in addition to the fast growth economic engine Atlanta has been enjoying for many decades.

Individual real estate opportunities are not limitless in this area, although itÕs a great time to buy in the current national market. Atlanta is one area of the country that did not experience the over zealous boom that created the over inflated market in so many areas of our country.

Atlanta is stable in both job growth and investment opportunities and that includes the housing market. This has caught the attention of Developers nationwide and worldwide. Donald Trump selected Midtown in Atlanta for his first large upscale project in this part of the South.

So there you have it, Buckhead may be a tough place in which to find an apartment, but with the right steps and a little preparedness, it can be done.