Southern Company to move to Colonnade

The two red-roofed buildings at the Colonnade, also known as Colonnade North and Colonnade South, soon will be home to a new tenant. 

Griffin Capital Corporation, a California-based real estate company, purchased the buildings from Zurich Alternate Asset Management for $131.6 million, one of the most expensive office building sales the city has seen in recent years. 

That price breaks down to around $197 per square foot for the space.

Southern Company, the parent company of Alabama Power, will enter into a long-term lease agreement, and the move to the Colonnade will bring together employees from the Inverness office as well as employees from downtown Birmingham. Their lease is a 28-year absolute triple net lease, according to real estate information company CoStar Group, meaning the tenant has agreed to pay all real estate taxes, building insurance and maintenance on the property in addition to other normal fees.

The buildings, which have a combined space of almost 670,000 square feet, also will bring together employees from subsidiary companies Southern Nuclear and Southern Power, along with the engineering and construction services and fleet operationsand training. 

These companies have been working out of offices at Inverness Complex. Brian Green, communications director for Southern Nuclear, said its current lease ends in 2018 and the move comes at a good time for the company.

“In an effort to be financially prudent, we conducted an evaluation of our current and future office needs and decided that relocating would provide the best opportunity to meet a variety of needs and maximize space,” Green said.

The move will bring together all the employees at the current Inverness office, as well as some employees from offices in downtown Birmingham, totaling between 1,700 and 2,000 in all. 

The buildings were constructed in 1988. Colonnade North has been vacant since 2014 and Colonnade South has been vacant since 2010. Renovations on the buildings began in June 2016, and are expected to be completed by December 2018. Green said the buildings are being renovated to ensure they are up to code and meet the company’s business needs. Employees will begin working in the new offices in increments as spaces are completed. All renovations and the move will take place over the course of 20 months. 

 “We expect the move to have a positive economic impact on neighboring businesses in and around the Colonnade,” Green said.