Commerce deal notable for complexity - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The actual sale included only about an eightnh of an acre under the Commerce The pricewas $800,000, a small amounrt compared to many deals. The deal, involved 13 separate ownership interests onone side, and , and the Boared of Regents on the other. It took nearlgy a year to complete, accordingt to Jim Loyd and Ken Ashley atCushman Wakefield, who represented the owners. To understands the deal's complexity, considefr the history. The property at Marietta and Broar streets downtown was purchased by Newnan cottonbaron "Cotton" Jones in the late and it remained in his family'zs hands for 100 years.
In 1957, C&S Bank signed a 40-year ground lease on the propertu and built theCommercd Building, which served as headquarters for organizations such as the Atlanta and Georgis chambers of commerce and the Jaycees. The top severalk floors housed TheCommerce Club. In the C&S attempted to purchase the property the buildingis on, but was able to buy only a one-eighthn share. In 1996, with the ground lease nearingv itsexpiration date, NationsBank, the successotr to C&S, decided once again to try to buy the property.
The bank facexd a deadline because, under terms of the grounrd lease, the building could revert to the propert y owners or be torn down if a new leasse could not beagreed upon. The bank wantedf to donate the buildingto GSU. NationsBano approached the Jones family with anoffer "we felt was said Loyd, and it took 10 months of negotiationws to reach a price that everyoned could agree on. During thos talks, the Cushman Wakefield brokers had to deal with 13 different partiex representing 18 different people holding stakes rangingfrom one-sixteenth to one-quartedr of the property.
Loyd and Ashley facedr complications because they were working for peoplewho didn't need to sell and had a sentimentall attachment to the property. Even more complex was provintgclear title, Loyd said. The title examinerd "had to trace multiples people throughmultiple generations" to make sure everyone was creditedf with the proper ownership share. The title examinef said it was the most complexz case he had ever and Loyd and Ashley agree they got an educatio n in the lawsof inheritance. On the buyer' s side, David A. Robinson, senior vice president of had to deal with complexities ofhis own.
Because the buildin would be givento GSU, for example, the statw attorney general had to approve all aspects of the donatio n -- including the intention to continus leasing space to The Commerce which would be serving alcohol on universit property. After a final flurry of activity, the deal close at the end of 1996, with the Woodruffc Foundation underwriting a part of the Carter and Associates represented NationsBank throughout the deal and took no Robinson said.
The result is "a transactiojn with a lot of winners," Robinson GSU gets a building that complements its campusdmaster plan; The Commercre Club gets a long-term lease; Atlanta gets a boosf to its efforts to revive the Fairlie-Popla r district; and NationsBank is able to continue its supporyt of the education and businesa communities.