News

Adaptive Reuse of the FLATS at Ponce City Market Nearing Completion

By Balazs Szekely, Associate Editor

February 1, 2015

The FLATS at Ponce City Market, the adaptive reuse project including historic renovations of the Sears, Roebuck & Company building, is nearing completion. Stevens & Wilkinson was responsible for the new design. The full-service commercial architecture, engineering and interior design firm is based in Atlanta and Columbia, S.C. New York-based Fogarty Finger contributed to the interior design.

Located on Ponce de Leon Avenue and adjacent to the Atlanta Beltline, the building was completed in 1925 and during its 90-year history it has most notably been used as a warehouse and store for Sears, Roebuck & Company and later became Atlanta City Hall East. The project is the largest adaptive reuse effort in the history of the city, estimated at more than $200,000,000. It involved the addition of a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, including 17 two-level lofts. Most units were repurposed from old warehousing space and the team adapted original structural columns to serve as room or area dividers. As part of the historic preservation effort, the architects embraced the building’s original architectural features, including historic masonry, columns and the old design elements.

Stevens & Wilkinson had designed the project with a LEED certification in mind, including the incorporation of energy-efficient appliances as well as efficiently engineered mechanical and plumbing systems in order to meet the LEED for Homes standard. The installation of water-efficient fixtures and landscaping, reclamation of rain water and other building-generated water, and the incorporation of LED lighting and energy-saving HVAC systems in the base building are part of Ponce City Market’s goal to achieve the LEED Core & Shell Silver certification.

The project is expected to be completed in mid-2015.