In an effort to blend wellness with buzzy food and beverage options, Buckhead’s largest office park has brought aboard heavy-hitters in Atlanta placemaking and design to help make the property hip as WFH dominance wanes.
Ardent Companies pulled back the curtain this week on a new food-and-beverage district called Oxton that will reimagine more than 35,000 square feet of ground-level office space at Piedmont Center, a sprawling office property along Piedmont Road just north of Buckhead’s main shopping and hotel districts.
Oxton is being described as “a symbiotic mix of food, beverage, and wellness” that will aim to refashion Piedmont Center into “a mixed-use experience unlike anything in Atlanta.”
Ardent, considered one of Buckhead’s largest office landlords, bought Piedmont Center in 2021 and announced plans for a comprehensive spruce-up.
The 45-acre campus' Piedmont Road location, between Roswell Road and Peachtree Road. Google Maps
To help the company accomplish that, Ardent also announced consulting partnerships for the Piedmont Center makeover with adaptive-reuse veterans Westbridge (recent projects: Westside Paper, Stockyards, 926 Brady) and Bridger Properties (Krog Street Market, Westside Paper, Empire Stein Steel).
Atlanta-based Square Feet Studio architects—whose design fingerprints are found across the city, from Decatur’s Kimball House to West Midtown’s Interlock and beyond—has been tapped to lead designs.
The 3525 Piedmont Road campus includes 14 office buildings spread across 45 acres, where more than 200 companies have a presence, according to Ardent. Recent upgrades include 1.2 miles of walking trails and what the owners describe as “the fastest internet in Buckhead.”
Courtesy of Ardent Companies; designs, Square Feet Studio
Ardent plans to break ground on the Oxton project in the third quarter of this year.
Plans call for retail to spill into the office complex’s courtyard, beneath a canopy of tall, mature trees, and for F&B vibrancy to continue from morning until late at night.
“There will be spaces for kids to run around, for adults to connect, and for office workers to enjoy a break outdoors,” Ardent CEO Matt Shulman said in a prepared statement. “As companies continue to bring workers back to the office and to recruit top talent, the newly imagined Piedmont Center, anchored by Oxton, [will provide] the environment they need… [We’re] delivering the mix of uses and the activated public spaces that resonate with the community and today’s workforce.”
Added Merritt Lancaster, Bridger Properties’ principal and cofounder: “Oxton offers a great opportunity for restaurants and retailers to establish a presence or expand in Buckhead, in a safe, comfortable environment that is relevant seven days a week, no matter the time of day.”
Courtesy of Ardent Companies; designs, Square Feet Studio
JLL and Cushman & Wakefield are handling Piedmont Center’s office leasing, while Bridger Properties is tasked with filling retail spaces. Find more context, and a closer look at Oxton designs, in the gallery above.
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