Prominent intown developer Portman Holdings has uncloaked details for its big bet on a well-to-do suburban market that will continue a couple of trends emerging across metro Atlanta’s commercial real estate landscape. 

Portman announced Monday it has acquired the aging, 1980s Brookside Office Park in Alpharetta, with plans for partial demolition and urban-infill-style redevelopment on what are currently vast parking lots. 

Situated about a mile and ½ east of Avalon, the 20-acre Alpharetta property is home to two office buildings today—Brookside One & Two—along Old Milton Parkway (Ga. Highway 120). Portman officials say it’s a prime palette for continuing the company’s focus on opportunities beyond “traditional city centers” across the Sun Belt.  

Portman's plans for more than 330 apartments and adjacent retail at the Brookside Office Park redevelopment. Courtesy of Portman

The 3625 Brookside Parkway location, in relation to downtown Alpharetta and other area landmarks. Google Maps

Like Johns Creek’s 43-acre, under-construction Medley project, Portman’s Alpharetta venture represents another planned transformation of an underperforming, north OTP office park. It’s also the latest example of an active intown Atlanta developer branching beyond Interstate 285 to make deals. Others include Third & Urban’s plans for Georgia 400 Center, Brock Built and Lincoln Property Company’s under-construction The Gathering (both elsewhere in Alpharetta), and another village-like Portman project now set to move forward in Fairburn. 

Brookside is currently home to two Class-A office buildings totaling about 266,000 square feet, and Portman plans to raze one of them to clear the way for “immersive redevelopment,” per a Monday announcement. The other 130,000-square-foot office building will remain standing. 

The adaptive-reuse Brookside blueprint calls for 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 70 townhomes, and a new building with 335 multifamily residences. Around that will be pedestrian connections, public gathering spaces, and other outdoor amenities, according to Portman. 

Courtesy of Portman

Positioning of the two buildings and surface parking today off Old Milton Parkway (bottom). Google Maps

Brookside was built in the early 1980s and had more recently grappled with underutilization and dipping occupancy. The Alpharetta City Council unanimously approved its redevelopment plans in April, per Portman officials.  

Portman’s schedule calls for breaking ground on Brookside next summer and completing the project in 2029. 

As it stands, the Brookside property counts four parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of offices, with a new outdoor courtyard as its centerpiece. A trail system nearby links with the Big Creek Greenway, a miles-long destination for biking, walking, and jogging. The property underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation, completed in 2022, that included a new conference center, lounge, and lobby for both buildings, with a goal to “enhance tenant wellness and productivity,” according to CBRE marketing materials. 

Portman has tapped Dotan Zuckerman, the company’s head of retail development, and Anders Fry, retail leasing manager, to head retail strategy and leasing efforts in Alpharetta.  

“With Brookside, we’re taking an older office campus and giving it new life, keeping the best of what’s there while bringing in housing, retail, and spaces that make it a real part of the community,” Mike Greene, Portman’s senior vice president of development, said in a statement. “The goal isn’t just another project; it’s creating a place where people in Alpharetta want to live, work, and spend time.” 

Overview of outdoor amenities at the renovated properties. Bridge Commercial Real Estate

Portman also remains active closer to its downtown Atlanta home base. The company debuted metro Atlanta’s largest office project of 2024 in December (where it recently inked a major lease with global accounting firm EY), and it continues to deliver restaurant options to the Beltline’s most active stretch at its Junction Krog District project in Old Fourth Ward.

Elsewhere along the Beltline, the company scaled back redevelopment plans at Amsterdam Walk (now approved, with up to 1,100 rental residences) in the face of community pushback and cut ties entirely with a massive proposal along Ponce de Leon Avenue, citing economic turbulence.

Find more context and images for Portman’s latest suburban endeavor in the gallery above. 

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