A high-rise apartment project that’s been applauded by Midtown’s development review board for its eye-catching design has officially launched, joining a flurry of large-scale construction in Midtown’s northern blocks.

The 1405 Spring Street tower, a 31-story joint venture by JPX Works and Zeller, will rise on a tight, half-acre lot where 18th and Spring streets meet.

The project marks JPX Works’ first foray into the active Midtown market since the 25-story Lilli tower near the Fox Theatre. That aluminum-clad, puzzle-like structure won an Urban Land Institute design award and was sold to Toronto-based Oxford Properties Group two years ago.

JPX Works founder Jarel Portman tells Urbanize Atlanta the Spring Street venture recently began construction. It’s expected to deliver in 23 months, Portman said.

The west facade, facing the Connector. Courtesy of JPX Works; RJTR Design

Since 2012, the site has been home to the 16,500-square-foot Judge G. Alan Blackburn Conference Center, which is being removed. The 300,400-square-foot building will bring 325 apartments to the southeast corner of the intersection, across the street from Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts and diagonal to The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.

As with the Lilli project, which managed to add no new parking by tapping into an existing parking garage, the Spring Street tower has required innovative design, as architect Rob Rule of RJTR Design told Midtown Development Review Committee members last year.

The site, a relative postage stamp, includes just 150 feet of frontage on both streets it fronts. To be feasible, the building’s nine-story parking deck footprint will be as small as possible and integrated fully into the structure, while a 10th-floor amenities level would be more like an open notch in the side of the building, allowing for part of it to be outdoors, said Rule.

The corner where Spring Street meets 18th Street, as seen prior to demolition in 2021. Google Maps

Plans for the southeast corner of Spring and 18th streets. Courtesy of JPX Works; RJTR Design

Architects have planned for residences, beginning on the 11th story, to have recessed balconies that shift positions going up the tower, lending the appearance at night of illuminated glass blocks peering toward the Connector and downtown.

Some 324 parking spaces are planned, but no retail space.

The JPX Works venture is hardly the only development activity in the northernmost reaches of Midtown.

A block east, Capital City Real Estate is moving forward with a 29-story tower called Rhapsody on Peachtree Street. Site preparations have begun for that 356-unit project, which will see a blend of apartments and for-sale condos in a stair-stepped building.

Meanwhile, SCAD’s expansion of nearly 1,000 student beds in two mid-rise buildings is continuing on Spring Street. And Midtown Union’s Kimpton Wade Hotel—one of three towers included in the block-sized project where Spring meets 17th Street—is expected to start welcoming guests this summer.  

• Recent Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)