Atlanta’s largest adaptive reuse project features cross laminated timber

Global real estate investment and management firm Jamestown recently started construction on more than 700,000 sf of new live, work, and shop space at Ponce City Market. Located in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, the property is undergoing the city’s largest ever adaptive reuse project.

619 Ponce, a four-story mass timber loft office building, includes 90,000 sf of office space and 23,000 sf of ground-level retail space. Cross-laminated timber for this portion of the project will be sourced from sustainably managed forests in Georgia and Alabama, including from timberland properties Jamestown owns and manages.

Ponce City Market opened in 2015. The latest phase of construction is designed with a focus on sustainability and wellness, according to a news release. The additions to the property will “evolve the mixed-used model and structured shopping experience through new prototype verticals, including a mass timber loft office building, new hospitality living concept, and a multi-family rental community designed for active adults and empty nesters,” the release says.

A 21-story, flexible-stay, hospitality living building will include 405 units and 12,000 sf of retail space with 21-foot ceilings. Designed for the way people live and work today, the hospitality living building will merge hospitality and home. It will include fully furnished units with flexible short-term and long-term stays, from by-the-night engagements to one-year terms and options in between. 

“The line between Airbnb and hotels, short-term and long-term rentals, is blurring,” said Michael Phillips, president, Jamestown. “The majority of people under 30 default to Airbnb and short-term stay rentals rather than hotels. People want the flexibility of short-term rentals with the service of a hotel. This concept caters to the global nomad and brings those two elements together.”

Signal House, the residential component, was designed for active adults and the 55+ cohort with a focus on health and wellness. It will provide a digitally integrated and socially supportive living experience for a non-digitally native demographic. One- to three-bedroom units will include clean, modern interiors and balconies. Micro-mobility features will include onsite bike and scooter parking, additional bike lanes, designated rideshare drop-off sites, electric bike and car share programs, and electric car charging stations.

The project will reduce its emissions through all-electric operations and efficient building systems. Jamestown will evaluate options for on-site and off-site renewables and carbon offsets to achieve net-zero carbon operations.

When completed, Ponce City Market will house some 100 businesses collectively employing more than 5,750 people and will include over 800 residences.
 

Building team:
 

619 Ponce & Signal House buildings

Design Architect and Architect of Record: Handel Architects 
MEP engineer: Integral Group
Structural engineer (base building): DeSimone Consulting Engineers                                                                                              Structural engineer (mass timber): StructureCraft
General contractor/construction manager: JE Dunn

Hospitality/living building

Design Architect / AOR: Handel Architects
Interior Designer: Mithun
MEP: Integral Group
Structural: DeSimone Consulting Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: JE Dunn