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From Richard Bowers and Company’s 24th floor headquarters in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, the view extends north past the skyscrapers of Midtown to Buckhead, east all the way to Stone Mountain, and south to the nation’s busiest airport. It is an appropriate view for Bowers (MBA74), a kingpin of Atlanta commercial real estate, who has arranged office leases, sold land and retail space, managed property, even provided interior design services over all the territory seen from his view, and beyond. In fact, since his firm opened in 1980, Richard Bowers & Company has completed more than 9,100 requirements totaling over 71 million square feet, making Richard Bowers & Co. the largest independently-owned commercial real estate firm in the city.

The company completed renovation on the 260 Peachtree Street Building, its current locale, one month after 9/11. With just 4% occupancy at its opening, Bowers has taken 260 Peachtree to more than 90% leased with 35 tenants that include insurance, engineering, and law firms, a bank branch, a regional ad agency, Atlanta Magazine, CoreNet GlobalÕs Corporate Headquarters and his own offices.

"I am one of the bigger proponents of Downtown," says Bowers. "I put my money where my mouth is, and I put my company where my money is." Downtown Atlanta has undergone nothing short of a Renaissance since the 1996 Olympics, according to Bowers, who believes this submarket holds the brightest longterm future of any Atlanta submarket. He points to the central business district’s largest office market with more than 25 million square feet including institutional and government offices. In addition to being the center for finance, business, professional firms, and government, Downtown is a major entertainment center, drawing over 50,000 visitors on average daily. Philips Arena is the second largest indoor venue in attendance after Madison Square Garden in the nation. The newest tourism venues, the Georgia Aquarium and the soon-to-open World of Coke, are expected to bring $200 million a year to the state’s economy, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. With less crime than Midtown and Buckhead and less expensive office rates, Downtown is where Bowers is placing his bets.

In all, he owns 780,000 square feet at 260 Peachtree, the adjoining building at 270, former home of the Southern Company and Five Points Plaza. Renovations started at 270 Peachtree Street in January, and just as Bowers took the 260 building from a blighted condition to a successful office mecca, he plans to make the 270 Peachtree address the gateway to Downtown. Lobby renovations will include a new marble floor imported from Italy, one of the largest paintings in the city - a 12 x 72 ft mural by Russian artist Alexander Stolin working out of New Orleans, new furniture appointments, new stainless steel revolving doors and stairway rails, and spectacular new lighting.

Bowers knows the renovation and releasing of 270 Peachtree will be a long haul, but he’s no stranger to risk or hard work. A West Point graduate with a degree in engineering, he completed tours of duty in Europe and Vietnam before landing at Ft. McPherson in south Atlanta. While still in the army, he attended the Robinson College of Business at night to work on his MBA, which he completed in 1974.

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