Fortress Investment Group Buys Suburban Atlanta Office Asset

Fortress Investment Group picked up an office building in Alpharetta, just north of Atlanta, for about $93.2 million in a sale-leaseback with UPS.

The 305,000-square-foot office building sold for about $300 per square foot. The building, at 12380 Morris Road, is the main office of the Sandy Springs-based shipper’s supply chain solutions division, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported.

Fortress, co-founded by billionaire Wes Edens, acquired the six-story property through an affiliate. The 13-acre site includes a parking deck and visibility from Georgia 400. Fortress declined to comment, but the deal fits squarely with its net-lease strategy, which spans 82 million square feet nationally.

The transaction comes as UPS reshapes its real estate playbook amid slowing revenue and a pullback in shipping volume. The company plans to close 73 leased and owned facilities while cutting its global workforce by 4 percent.

In the Atlanta area, the sale-leaseback comes a few months after UPS exited a 133,000-square-foot in Sandy Springs, shifting some staff into the Alpharetta building. A UPS spokesperson confirmed the company will remain a tenant at Morris Road but would not elaborate on occupancy levels.

The property had been quietly marketed since 2022, when CBRE first shopped it before pulling the listing. Fortress vice chairman Tim Sloan has compared the office market’s distress to the shakeout in malls during the rise of e-commerce, noting a “bifurcation based upon submarket” in how values hold up. The firm has also been active in Atlanta recently, backing Arcis Golf’s purchase of three high-profile courses.

The Alpharetta sale is another move for UPS to streamline as it invests in healthcare logistics and other higher-margin ventures. The company posted a 2.7 percent year-over-year revenue drop to $21.2 billion in the second quarter, reflecting both demand and its exit from much of its Amazon business. A vacant parcel next to the Morris Road site, still owned by UPS Supply Chain Solutions, is for sale.

— Eric Weilbacher