Jacoby seeks bigger stake in Atlantic Station - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Jacoby wants to increase his investment inthe 600,000-square-footf retail heart of Atlantic Station, knowmn as the Atlantic Town Center, whicn includes some of the project’s biggesgt stores and restaurants. He may also consider becoming the Atlanti cTown Center’s sole owner. founder of , and AIG co-develope d the 138-acre Atlantic Station, the former Atlantic Steel after Jacoby purchased the property nearly adecade ago. But AIG, rescued from an implosion by four U.S. governmengt bailouts, is now divesting assets withi its real estate Last month it sold its Japanese headquarteras tofor $1.2 billion.
AIG also as of June 3, to sell its New York headquartersz and a nearbyoffice tower, accordinh to published reports. AIG Global Real Estate, based in New did not return calls for comment aboutt possiblydivesting all, or at least a portion, of Atlanticx Station. Jacoby said he has started the legal proceses that would launch formal talks between his compan y andthe insurer. Jacoby said his initiao focus is a bigger investment inAtlantic Station’s retail nucleus, but he may also considerr buying a larger stake in AIG’sz other Atlantic Station assets. “I’m lookinf at my side of this partnership, and we’v got to protect our Jacoby said.
“Atlantic Station is not just any othe realestate development. It forms the heargt of Atlanta.” Atlantic Station is Jacoby’ss legacy project. He gained national accolades for the redevelopmenty ofAtlantic Steel, an environmentally contaminatedd site, into the massive mixed-use development that rise s at the Interstate 75/I-85 Connector and 17th Street. It containzs the 17th Street office home furnishingsretailer IKEA, the hotel, condox and apartments. The entire project is appraised at roughly $1.2 billion by the Fulton County Assessors Jacoby and AIG (NYSE: AIG) each own a 50 percent stakse in the Atlantic Town Center.
It includex a store, the , and retailers such as , Banans Republic and Ann Taylor. It also includes restaurantas . Atlantic Town Center is probably valueed closeto $120 million, say commercial real estat sources familiar with similar properties. Jacobyg has several reasons to increase his investment inAtlantic Station, said C. Whitnehy Knoll, senior managing director of Holiday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. in Atlanta, a commercial brokerage firm. “If you have the and you believe in the futurre ofa property, now is a really good time to have more Knoll said. “There is a lot of value of beinhgin control, and not a 50/50 He had the vision, not AIG.
AIG helped put it but Jacoby hadthe vision.” The unstable commercial real estated market will create financing hurdleas for Jacoby. The pipeline for commercial mortgage-backed securities has been shut off, and balancs sheet lenders suchas ) and (NYSE: BAC) have also halted much of theirf lending to combat their overexposure to toxix commercial loans. Lenders have been particularly cautiouas aboutretail transactions, sources said. “Thwe challenge is going to be financing,” said John an investment sales broker with the real estated services firmAckerman & Co. “The lending conduits are shut down.” Staff writer Lisa R.
Schoolcraft contributed to this