For the second time in as many months, Ponce City Market is showing signs of a significant growth spurt.

Chain-link fencing has been erected in recent days around a parking lot at the northwest corner of the Old Fourth Ward landmark’s property, where Ponce de Leon Avenue meets Glen Iris Drive. (That’s near the West Elm entrance and across the street from Mister Car Wash, or what Atlanta old-timers will remember as Cactus Car Wash.)

Plans call for transforming the parking lot into an office building, retail spaces at ground level, and a 225-foot “hospitality living” tower, which will offer apartment leases and stays as brief as a single night, developer Jamestown Properties has previously said.

Fencing was installed last month prohibiting parking in lots along Ponce where two buildings are planned as part of $175-million phase two. Submitted

That section, positioned at the northwest corner of PCM’s block, is collectively known as Parcel B. We’ve asked Jamestown reps for a construction update but haven’t heard back today; all signs point to the mixed-use venture on Parcel B being ready to move forward.

When the AJC reported last month that Ponce City Market’s second phase would move forward without the benefit of controversial tax incentives worth $5.4 million (reduced from an earlier request of $8 million) from the embattled Development Authority of Fulton County, a Jamestown spokesperson said the project will look different without the public-private partnership but will include a generous affordable housing component.  

Still, the most recent building permit documents on file with the city show roughly the same phase-two scope along Ponce de Leon Avenue that’s been planned since 2020: the hotel-apartment tower with 405 units, about 38,000 square feet of retail space total (including at the tower’s base), and a timber-framed office component spanning 82,000 square feet.

At left, the 21-story Signal House project's site along the BeltLine. At right, the 21-story hospitality living tower and adjacent office building now standing at the northwest corner of PCM's property, per a 2020 rendering. Courtesy of Jamestown Properties

That section of PCM’s expansion would join another phase-two facet on the flipside of the historic main building: a 163-unit apartment tower that’s rising more than 20 stories over the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail now.

Parcel F, as that section is called, fronts North Avenue. It’s been five years in the making, originally envisioned as offices.

Signal House progress (beneath crane) as seen last week, rising over the BeltLine and Historic Fourth Ward Park. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Jamestown officials told Urbanize Atlanta last month the apartment tower, plus 3,300 square feet of retail, is on track to deliver in late 2023.

Jamestown has said phase two would include the required 16 apartments with rents capped for people earning 60 percent of the area’s median income—roughly $52,000 for a family of four—plus another eight units reserved at 120 percent AMI. Families earning up to $103,000 annually would qualify for the latter apartments.

Handel Architects

The developer is also planning to channel $1.5 million into a program for retaining legacy residents and a forthcoming DAFC Trust.

Overall, Jamestown expects PCM’s second phase to cost $175 million on both sides of the former Sears, Roebuck and Co. distribution center. Company officials have said the second phase will generate 550 jobs and create a net gain in tax revenue.

• Images: Portman project on BeltLine's Eastside Trail is full speed ahead (Urbanize Atlanta)