Atlanta’s ongoing, decade-long development cycle has seen changes aplenty on Ponce de Leon Avenue where it bisects the tony neighborhoods of Virginia and Poncey highlands.
That array of investment has included the reborn Hotel Clermont, upscale townhomes such as Oculus and saw-toothed, sold-out The Milo on Ponce, and the mixed-use 892 Ponce apartments and office redevelopment.
Directly across the street from that latter venture, a standalone bank project that’s been in the pipeline for several years is beginning to take shape on a prime Ponce slot next to Fellini’s Pizza.
The site in question in 2018, functioning as Rite Aid. Google Maps
Construction at the site today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The former Rite Aid building at 891 Ponce de Leon Avenue has been demolished for a freestanding, drive-up Chase Bank branch.
The .9-acre site is owned by Norcross-based Weiss Real Estate Investments. Total construction costs are expected to be $850,000, according to building permits issued in February.
Plans call for more than two dozen parking spaces, including handicapped slots, per paperwork filed with the city.
How the building's facade along Ponce is expected to look. Earlier plans called for more stucco. Chase Bank, via City of Atlanta permitting
Rite Aid in 2017 announced that it would close some 600 stores after Walgreen’s acquired about half of the company’s 2,000 locations. The Rite Aid on Ponce shuttered the following year.
We’ve asked a Chase Bank media relations rep for an ETA on the new Ponce branch, and we’ll post any intel that comes. Signage around the site says the business is “coming soon,” but construction hasn’t gone vertical yet.
Atlanta development hounds may recall that Chase’s initial plans called for demolishing the circa-1913 Barnett Building—a Craftsman-stye structure spanning 7,400 square feet and vestige of the days when Ponce was lined with grand homes—and opening the bank in 2019.
The still-standing Barnett Building in relation to the former Rite Aid. Google Maps
Pushback from preservationists and, later, the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled those plans.
Head to the gallery above for a closer look at what's coming.
• Recent Poncey-Highland news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
