Ponce City Market Opts for Apartments over Condos

The developer says the units could be converted into condos in the future.

The developers behind Ponce City Market have decided to shift from condominiums to apartments, according to a report in Curbed Atlanta.

In 2011, Jamestown Properties began plans to adapt the former Sears & Roebuck building and 16-acre tract — some 2 million square feet in all — to create about 1 million square feet of retail, office and residential components, plus parking, green spaces and more.

The redevelopment of the property at 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue was originally to be home to “loft-style condominiums and several hundred family residences for sale and rent.”

But the plans for the $180 million renovation, which is still slated for a Spring 2014 delivery, now call for apartments instead of condos. In a statement, Jamestown said:

“Careful consideration of the market indicates that consumers are likely to continue facing difficulty obtaining financing to purchase condo units, nationwide, for the foreseeable future. We are currently building extraordinarily high-quality rental units, which we will consider converting to condominiums down the line.”

In a separate project, groundbreaking is expected soon on a mixed-use project, including 280 apartments, on a 2.5-acre property bounded by Juniper Street, Ponce de Leon Ave., North Ave. and a portion of Piedmont Ave. that includes famed architect I.M. Pei’s first office building.

The site — located at 131 Ponce de Leon — sold for $6.5 million last summer and includes the entire block except for St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, which was once home to the well-known Abbey restaurant.