Downtown Atlanta office vacancy at 30%, residents up 45% since 2010

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Business and civic leaders gathered for Downtown Day to highlight the progress and challenges facing Atlanta’s oldest neighborhood.One of the biggest challenges remains vacant office space. Downtown leaders reported roughly 30% of downtown office buildings are vacant, even as the downtown population has grown 45% since 2010.A.J. Robinson, president of Downtown Atlanta Inc., described the shift as a rebalancing of density downtown.“We’re in this rebalancing, I guess, of the density of people, and that’s going to evolve as we move on,” Robinson said.Robinson noted downtown office rates are half of those on the Beltline or in Midtown.“Our rates are half of what something on the Beltline or in Midtown is, but everybody is paying the higher rates,” Robinson said. “At some point, value comes into play.”Georgia State University remains one of downtown’s largest tenants. President Brian Blake said the university is coming off its largest enrollment ever with