Easterly Government Properties is under contract to acquire the FORSCOM building, also known as Marshall Hall, and will renovate it. The company submitted a proposal to the General Services Administration, which manages government real estate, to be the new home of the FDA Atlanta complex and beat several competing bidders that pitched sites to the north of Atlanta.

The FDA joins the agencies such as the Federal Aviation and Administration and Department of Homeland Security in operating large offices on the southside. FDA Atlanta will be the largest employer at Fort Mac outside of Tyler Perry Studios.

The Atlanta campus is one of 13 FDA field labs, according to Easterly. The Fort Mac facility will house space for the Atlanta district office and the FDA’s Southeast Food and Feed and Southeast Tabacco labs. FDA Atlanta covers eight Southeastern states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

In a news release, William Trimble III, CEO of Easterly, said employees will benefit from MARTA access to Fort Mac, which is served by two stations on the Red and Gold rail lines.

“Easterly sees the opportunity presented in such a convenient location, and is pleased to serve as redeveloper for a sophisticated, leading-edge, highly specialized laboratory facility to support the FDA,” he said.