Plans are percolating for a unique infill project that would sprout from an existing building along a funky corridor between the Beltline’s Eastside Trail and downtown.
501 Edgewood calls for a timber-built, mixed-use expansion standing a total of four stories over a masonry and steel commercial building occupied for a decade by Chrome Yellow, an Old Fourth Ward coffeeshop and dry goods store.
Plans call for the building to be a showcase, illustrating how relatively light mass timber can meet sustainability standards, modernize existing structures, and help new buildings blend into the fabric of historic neighborhoods, according to the Georgia Mass Timber Collective.
Designs by Atlanta-based NO Architecture call for 16,000 square feet total. The developer is listed as Welborn Henson, an Atlanta-based millwork manufacturer that plans to build some of the 501 Edgewood project’s timber components, according to the collective.
The 501 Edgewood Ave. coffeeshop space along Daniel Street, as seen in March. Google Maps
Three stories of planned infill development at 501 Edgewood Ave., with the existing Chrome Yellow coffeeshop building at the base. NO Architecture/Welborn Henson; via Georgia Mass Timber Collective
A Special Administrative Permit for 501 Edgewood was approved by the Beltline Design Review Committee earlier this year, according to Atlanta’s Department of City Planning.
NO Architecture’s previous work in Atlanta includes the Hosea + 2nd project in East Lake and the Terminal South food and retail hub gearing up to start opening next month in Peoplestown.
The project was also one of three chosen in October by The Georgia Forestry Foundation, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service and the Softwood Lumber Board, as part of a program called the Georgia Mass Timber Accelerator.
The three projects—Roswell’s Chattahoochee Nature Center and a four-story residential building in Savannah were the others—will split a $75,000 grant.
“This overbuild showcases how mass timber can be used to modernize existing structures while meeting modern sustainability standards,” wrote the foundation of the Old Fourth Ward proposal.
Exactly what uses the 501 Edgewood project will include isn’t yet clear.
NO Architecture/Welborn Henson; via Georgia Mass Timber Collective
NO Architecture/Welborn Henson; via Georgia Mass Timber Collective
We’ve reached out to officials with Welborn Henson and NO Architecture today for information on a development time, what the full project will include, and how the coffeeshop will be impacted by construction, if at all. This story will be updated with any additional details that come.
[UPDATE: 4:17 p.m., July 24: NO Architecture president Tim Nichols sends word that Chrome Yellow will remain in business on site and could potentially expand into the building's second floor. The rest of the space will be for residential uses. Nichols says the development team expected to begin compiling construction drawings by the end of 2025 and will present the project at the next Georgia Forestry Foundation Mass Timber Hub event in Atlanta later this year. Note: A earlier version of this story incorrectly stated NO Architecture is based in New York.]"
The approved SAP application notes “there are no additions to or changes of the existing site in the scope of work” for the 501 Edgewood project. Equilibrium Consulting has been hired as the project’s structural engineer.
Find more imagery and context in the gallery above.
...
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram
• Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
