While Atlanta's development buzz swarms projects like Ponce City Market, Novare's planned towers and Beltline-area undertakings, a noteworthy project in the heart of Midtown — one that's breathing new life into the inaugural offering of a world-renowned architect — is humming right along. Called "131 Ponce, Midtown," the 280-unit apartment project on the site of the old Gulf Oil Building, is on schedule and slated to be finished in July 2014, Faison Enterprises project manager Kris Fetter told Curbed Atlanta. The first level of parking garages is almost done now and the second level is under way, Fetter said. Framing on the $50 million project should begin in October. Sadly, no new renderings have been made available for the multi-building complex. But we're told it'll feature a rooftop pool, lots of windows and a series of stair towers that connect to three courtyards at its center.
This place is particularly interesting because of its connection to IM Pei, the international architect probably best known for his glass pyramid outside the Louvre. The aforementioned Gulf Oil Building (1951) was Pei's first offering, and developers are doing their best to honor the original building's look: Before demolition began, they spent three-plus weeks taking down the exterior marble panels, which will eventually be restored to (near) their original setting as part of 131 Ponce, Midtown's clubhouse and leasing office. Fetter said he expects steel, aimed at reproducing the dramatic straight-line look of Pei's project, to start going up in October, and that the marble should be back in place "in early 1Q14." The first units and a leasing office should deliver in April 2014.
— By Curbed Atlanta contributor Tyler Estep
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