From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Bank of America Plaza might one day be home to a five-star hotel, according to the commercial real estate company that owns the iconic Midtown skyscraper.

At Thursday morning’s Midtown Alliance meeting at Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, BentleyForbes Group Inc. President and CEO David Cobb said he wanted to put all rumors to rest and confirmed the commercial real estate company was exploring the possibility of converting the first 15 floors of Bank of America Plaza into a five-star hotel.

Cobb also said BentleyForbes is in discussions with architects and some “high-end flags.” While he didn’t say who talks involved, high-end flags would include hoteliers such as Ritz-Carlton, and InterContinental and Four Seasons.

Atlanta now has four “five-diamond” hotels: Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Ritz Carlton Downtown Atlanta, Four Seasons and InterContinental Atlanta Buckhead.

Bank of America Plaza is the tallest building in Atlanta and the Southeast standing at 1,023 feet.

In an interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle Sept. 16, Cobb said the top priority was getting Bank of America Plaza back up to at least 95 percent occupancy.

Since BentleyForbes bought the tower in 2006 for what was a record $436 million, vacancy has risen from about 1 percent to nearly 14 percent. At the same time, landing new tenants isn’t getting any easier.

Midtown is seeing a lot of new and renovated hotel space: with the W hotel in downtown, and a second in colony square, and the Palomar on West Peachtree, Midtown may be glutted with hotel rooms. Still, another five-diamond hotel would be quite a coup for the Atlanta neighborhood.

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