Mixed-use venture enters pipeline near Piedmont Park, Ponce

Josh Green

Mon, 01/13/2025 – 13:10

Here’s proof the densification of Midtown isn’t relegated to the booming core business district.

A mixed-use proposal has come to light that would replace a row of retail shops with more than 100 new residences and other uses between Ponce de Leon Avenue and Piedmont Park, near Midtown’s eastern fringes.

The 728 Monroe Drive NE venture is scheduled for a first reading before the Atlanta City Council Zoning Committee today.

The project, as designed by Atlanta-based Place Maker Design architects, would require rezoning from a community business district to a mixed residential/commercial designation, according to paperwork filed with the zoning committee.

Extent of the retail row in question between 724 and 728 Monroe Drive in Midtown. Google Maps

Footprint of the proposed 121-unit building at 728 Monroe Drive. Place Maker Design, via City of Atlanta Zoning Committee

The .58-acre site falls within the Atlanta Beltline Overlay and is subject to affordable housing requirements. It counts 100 feet of frontage on the west side of Monroe Drive, just north of Ponce, across the street from an Ameris Bank branch and Autohaus Social.

The retail row today houses Drenched Cycle Studio and Realm Dispensary, among other storefronts.

Property records indicate the building last sold in spring 2022 for $3.25 million to an LLC called 728 Monroe CIH.

The redevelopment would see roughly 121 residential units and an unspecified amount of commercial space at one small corner of the building fronting Monroe Drive, alongside the building’s lobby, according to plans filed with the city.

Nineteen of the apartments would be set aside as workforce housing, with rents capped at 80 percent of the area median income.

A parking entry and exit would be located along a current alley on the southern edge of the property, nearest to a gas station next door, per site plans.

How tall the building would stand wasn’t specified, and the development team could not be reached for comment today.

As shown in 2021 marketing materials, an overview of the property facing west to the core of Midtown. Courtesy of Bull Realty

Positioned roughly four blocks from rechristened and expanded Midtown High School, the 9,500-square-foot building dates to 1959 and is zoned C-1 commercial today. It was renovated about eight years ago, and more than 17,000 cars drive by on Monroe per day, with another 50,000 vehicles on Ponce, per Bull Realty marketing materials from 2021.

When listing the property for sale three years ago, Bull Realty officials noted it could operate as a “covered land play” for a future development in a location fit for more density.

Find more site context and imagery in the gallery above.

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