Dorsey Alston, REALTORS, Atlanta’s oldest and largest locally-owned and operated residential real estate company, will open its first intown office in Virginia Highland.

The company closed on the purchase of a home located at 853 North Highland Avenue on June 10. Built in 1919, it was previously Harvest restaurant before being converted to La Raine’s Bridal. The new office is expected to open later this year.

Dorsey Alston has a long and successful record of selling homes in intown markets. The new location will put its agents in the heart of Atlanta.

“We are excited to announce our intown office, the first in our 72-year history,” said President and CEO Michael Rogers. “This is a great location for our agents to represent home buyers and home sellers in these thriving, close-in neighborhoods, where many Atlantans — old and new — want to live.”

Atlanta’s intown neighborhoods are flourishing as a result of public-private investment. Projects like the Atlanta BeltLine, Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market as well as a strengthening public school system have added to the momentum driving intown home sales.

There is also a strong national trend of homeowners moving back into the urban core to be in walkable areas close to cultural institutions, unique dining and retail and public parks.

The Virginia Highland office will be Dorsey Alston’s third. Headquartered in Buckhead on West Paces Ferry Road across Andrews Drive from the Atlanta History Center, it opened an East Cobb office on Johnsons Ferry Road in 2014. The growing firm has more than 250 agents and recorded more than $100 million in sales in April.

Founded in 1947, Dorsey Alston has a distinguished legacy of real estate service. For more than 70 years, generations of clients have trusted the company and its agents to represent them with integrity, discretion and professionalism.