619 Ponce; Georgia's first locally sourced mass timber building

619 Ponce is a four-story mass timber loft office building at Atlanta’s Ponce City Market featuring 88,000 square feet of office space and 27,000 square feet of retail. The building is Georgia’s first Georgia-grown mass timber building utilizing a regional supply chain and offers unique biophilic design, high ceilings, and exposed timber beams. Integrated with the amenities of Ponce City Market and steps from the Atlanta BeltLine, 619 Ponce is connected to the heart of Old Fourth Ward and is a benchmark building for sustainable development in the Southeast U.S. For more information, visit: poncecitymarket.com/619-ponce.

619 Ponce comprises 115,000 square feet of space over four stories on the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Glen Iris Drive in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. Sage, a global accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology company, has leased 57,000 square feet within the building for its North America headquarters. Pottery Barn is now open on the ground floor where it comprises more than 18,000 square feet, including a large, dedicated space for the brand’s complimentary Design Crew services.

Biophilic design

The building’s biophilic design includes outdoor space on every level, natural wood columns and ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows with operable panels. Amenities at 619 Ponce include onsite daycare and medical facilities and direct access to the Atlanta BeltLine. The building is targeting net-zero carbon operations, LEEDv4 Core & Shell certification, and Fitwel certification. Handel Architects served as the Design Architect and Architect of Record.

Whereas most timber for mass timber construction in the U.S. is currently sourced from Canada, Austria, or Germany, 619 Ponce was constructed with timber sourced and manufactured locally. Jamestown’s use of Georgia-grown timber and a regional supply chain – a first for mass timber construction in Georgia – reduces the project’s transportation emissions and the overall environmental impact of construction, maximizing the sustainability benefits of mass timber and growing the regional economy, putting Atlanta at the forefront of creating and supporting the expanding “green tech” economy.

The building’s columns, beams, and floor slabs are made of local southern yellow pine sawtimber harvested from Georgia forests, including from timberland Jamestown owns and sustainably manages near Columbus, Georgia. Jamestown owns and sustainably manages more than 100,000 acres of timberlands across Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The timberland is managed under the 2022 SFI® Forest Management Standard, which provides third-party verification of sustainable forestry management based on several factors, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and threatened and endangered species.

The sawtimber was transported to Georgia-Pacific’s sawmill in Albany, Georgia, where it was converted into lumber. The lumber was then transported to SmartLam’s mass timber plant in Dothan, Alabama, where it was converted into cross laminated timber (CLT) panels and glue laminated columns and beams. The CLT panels were erected on site at Ponce City Market by StructureCraft and JE Dunn.

The use of locally sourced mass timber at 619 Ponce complements Jamestown’s broader sustainability commitments. The real estate investment and management firm has committed to achieve net zero operational carbon by 2050 and adopted all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Jamestown is a partner in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Climate Challenge, which challenges organizations to set ambitious portfolio-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and share actionable pathways for carbon reduction. “This project is an example of Jamestown’s overall leadership through the challenge,” said Mandy Mahoney, director of the DOE’s Building Technologies Office. “We commend Jamestown’s work to pursue and share pathways to reduce emissions across its portfolio through technology innovation and organizational leadership.”