Flying Biscuit restaurant coming to Hammond Springs center in ’09
The Flying Biscuit restaurant will open in February in a stand-alone building under construction at Hammond Springs, the retail center being redeveloped by The Simpson Organization at Roswell Road and Hammond Drive.
The restaurant will face Roswell Road across from Whole Foods and adjacent to the new two-story building for The Eye Gallery, also under construction. Improvements to the façade of the entire shopping center are 70 percent complete.
“The Flying Biscuit is one of Atlanta’s hottest retail brands,” said Chris Hardy, senior vice president of The Simpson Organization, which owns the 70,000-square-foot shopping center.
Diners can enjoy breakfast all day or choose from lunch and dinner entrees. The new building will seat about 100 patrons inside and accommodate 40 more on a covered terrace.
Phillip and Barbara Juhan will operate the franchise, a concept of Atlanta-based Raving Brands. Barbara Juhan studied restaurant management at Cornell and has a degree from the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, the same establishment from which Food Network star chef Bobby Flay graduated.
Cox defers new Perimeter office tower
Sandy Springs-based media company Cox Enterprises has announced it will defer construction of a new office tower on its Lake Hearn property near Perimeter Mall because of the unpredictable economy.
Cox planned to build the 28-story office tower as the headquarters for its AutoTrader.com subsidiary.
Plans called for a 750,000-square-foot, 28-story tower, along with a future 20-story office building, a 350-room hotel and a nine-story parking garage.
Meanwhile, Cox is leasing space in the 1001 and 2002 Perimeter Summit buildings. Cox Communications, which owns and operates the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers nationally, recently moved into the 12th, 14th and 15th floors of Hines’ 1001 Perimeter Summit. AutoTrader is leasing the fourth and fifth floors of 2002 Perimeter Summit.
South Korean cellphone maker expands lease
South Korean cellphone maker Pantech & Curitel has renewed its lease for five years and expanded its space to 12,200 square feet at Central Perimeter’s Premiere Plaza, Ackerman & Co.’s two-building, 317,000-square-foot office complex on Glenridge Drive.
Pantech & Curitel is one of the world’s largest mobility communication equipment makers, including GPS handsets and digital camera phones. The company operates 20 regional offices worldwide.
Architecture firm cuts staff in half
Sandy Springs architectural firm The Preston Partnership LLC reportedly has laid off about 50 percent of its staff as clients have backed off from developing residential and retail projects.
The firm, housed in the Northpark 400 office building, has gone from 325 employees nationwide to 160. It has been the architect for such high-rise condos as Viewpoint, Spire, Realm and Ovation in Atlanta.
The Preston Partnership has been Atlanta’s seventh-largest architectural firm based on gross revenues. The firm generated $38 million in gross revenue, with most of it attributed to the Atlanta office.