The metamorphosis continues for a former church property where countless Atlantans attended school, worshipped, or were married across six decades.

Druid Hills United Methodist Church, built by architects and developers Ivey & Crook in 1954, is now called 1200 Ponce, a project by seasoned Atlanta-based developers Minerva along Ponce de Leon Avenue.

The project’s first standalone building—a residential facet dubbed Building B, designed to echo the gracious older dwellings of Druid Hills—has recently taken shape along Ponce de Leon Avenue, just east of Moreland Avenue.  

As seen this week, the next phase of 1200 Ponce residential development in relation to the former 1950s church property. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Echoing the architecture of Druid Hills homes, how Building B will face Ponce de Leon Avenue. Courtesy of Minerva

The sold-out first 1200 Ponce facet was the Choate + Hertlein Architects-designed conversion of the former Greek Revival-stye sanctuary and adjoining preschool. It included 23 condos, including some multistory units meant to live like townhomes where the pews had once stood. Prices ranged from the $600,000s to north of $1.6 million.

This week we’ve inquired with developer Minerva for information on Building B’s delivery timeline, unit sizes and pricing, and other details. This post will be updated with any additional details that come.

According to Minerva marketing materials, the building will include just four units (ostensibly very large ones). Those will be two one-story flats and two condos with two stories each. All units will include porches, per the developer.  

Ultimately, Minerva’s plans call for a community of four buildings with 51 condos and townhomes to rise in coming years, officials previously told Urbanize Atlanta. 

Minerva

Minerva

1200 Ponce joins the nearby, under-construction Downing Park project as a reimagining of former church property in the neighborhood, a trend that’s accelerated across intown Atlanta in recent years. Other churches have sold property for conversion into condos, offices, high-rise apartments, and even a comedy club.

In the case of Druid Hills United Methodist Church, its congregation in its final years had dwindled to only about 60 members, reflecting national trends in urban environments. The church’s remaining congregation merged with Candler Park’s Neighborhood Church (formerly Epworth Methodist), and Minerva closed on the Druid Hills property in 2017, launching initial construction late the following year. 

The former preschool that had operated on the grounds since the early 1980s—DHUMP—found a new home in Inman Park.

This 1951 fundraising brochure shows plans for the sanctuary and, at left, the two-story school addition.Courtesy of Minerva

This 2021 aerial, facing west toward Midtown, shows the Building B lot at bottom. Photo by Fabio Laub; courtesy of Minerva

Elsewhere in Atlanta, Minerva’s adaptive-reuse projects include the Giant Apartment Lofts downtown and Inman Park’s Waddell Street Lofts. Its multifamily ventures include the Axis condos and townhomes in Candler Park, 17 townhomes near Edgewood’s MARTA station, and Sophia Druid Hills, a mix of Art Deco-inspired condos and townhomes near Emory University. 

In Blandtown, the Chelsea Westside and Hayden Westside projects are more recent entries in the company’s portfolio. 

Find more 1200 Ponce context and imagery in the gallery above. 

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• Druid Hills news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)