The Ponce de Leon Ave. development to boast ‘Urban-Prototype’ Kroger, new class-A loft office building with Beltline access.
UPDATE (August 25, 2016): ‘Murder Kroger’ Redevelopment Very Close To Breaking Ground
Kroger and the newly formed New City, LLC in a press release Friday announced plans to demolish the Kroger, known infamously as “Murder Kroger,” on Ponce De Leon Avenue and replace it with 725 Ponce, a gigantic mixed-use development.
The project will break ground in Spring of 2016, and will feature a new 60,000 square foot Kroger underneath 360,000 square feet of Class-A loft office space. It will be immediately adjacent to the Atlanta Beltline, with a dedicated entrance next to the trail. Parking for the new development will go underneath 725 Ponce, with over 900 parking spots to serve new office tenants. Parking during weekends and evenings will be open to the public for those visiting Ponce City Market and the Beltline.
The project is the latest in economic development that was catalyzed by the Beltline.
“This project exemplifies the catalytic role the Atlanta BeltLine continues to play in advancing Atlanta’s stature as a world-class walkable/bikable city.” said Paul Morris, CEO of the Atlanta BeltLine, in Friday’s press release.
“The confidence New City and their investors are showing at 725 Ponce further solidifies the urban development revolution taking place around the BeltLine with robust economic development that affords residents the ability to work, shop and live their lives using the BeltLine as their primary means of transportation.”
Jim Irwin, New City founder, will guide the development of 725 Ponce. He also led the redevelopment for Ponce City Market for Jamestown Properties.
Additionally, New City Development will be working with the owners of the neighboring Ford Factory, to create a new Beltline entrance, public breezeway, and Beltline-Facing retail area inside the existing building.
With all this change, do you think “Murder Kroger” will lose its nickname once and for all? Tell us your thoughts below…
32 Responses
NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! This is absolutely HORRIBLE!!!!! This is the worst thing that could ever happen to Poncey Highlands!! We MUST STOP THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s Poncey-Highland, not Poncey Highlands. How long have you lived there or do you even live there at all? And why don’t you explain WHY you think this is so terrible?
Dude, relax. Just because they referred to it with an s and no hyphen doesn’t mean they’re a transplant or an out-of-towner.
Ha, nope. Not unless they entirely relocate.
Are there any plans to expand and widen roads in the area? As a resident, I worry when I see more and more development and nothing being done to ease traffic congestion and the horribly out of shape roads.
In 1970 (with a more car-centric city than we have today) the neighborhood comfortably accommodated TWICE the population it has today. So your concerns are meritless — but if you’re really worried about what the situation is like in a car, then walk or ride a bike. That way, you’ll no longer be part of the “problem”.
Thanks! Well said
You can’t widen the roads. Current businesses have built to code and the sidewalks are already not wide enough. The question is how do we get more cars off the road.
This guy is exactly right.
You can’t force something into being walkable. Atlanta will never be Savannah or New York, aka walkable.
Do something about getting 3 lanes each way on that road, or accept the long term consequences of poor planning.
You can absolutely force things to become walkable, All it takes is lot and lots of beatings. Lots of beatings. Eventually, the people will submit.
I doubt it. I live in the Midtown West area where they have added over 1000+ condo/apartments in the past 2 years. At a Beltline meeting I discussed transportation issues with someone working with the Beltline and City Dept. of Transportation. I asked if there is any master plan or any plan at all for roads and transportation in the area. His head dropped as he said no.
Decatur is doing the same thing. Three new complexes are being built. When asked about traffic, City of Decatur noted when they built 100+ units a few years ago traffic in downtown Decatur went down. With no studies, they are hanging their hat on the coincidence that traffic dropped as 250 residents were added in hopes traffic will not be a problem when adding over 700 more!
No, I doubt very seriously it will change the name. Possible to new residents to Atlanta Metro but for those of us who have lived here for years, not a chance. It’s like the Kroger on Piedmont, it will forever be the Disco Kroger. I think they finally stopped listing it like that in the phone book (smile).
What’s a phone book?
All in favor of calling the new facility “Fresh Murder Kroger”?
More like ” Mass Murder Kroger ” !!!
When will the city government wake up and deal with the huge transportation issues in the city! They seem to accept any new development that comes along, conducts no master planning or civil organization, collects the taxes, and reacts to transportation issues 5 years after problems arise. We need a new city council who can be proactive instead of reactive.
Hi,
I was proposed by the city/county, but rejected by the voters.
So please stop blaming the city for something you and your fellow citizens do not want to pay for.
Have you seen the Beltline overlay plans? The proposed streetcar network? The bike lane plans? The Marta expansion plans?
Nobody wants to pay for these improvements, but everyone is okay paying 1 billion for widening the 400/285 interchange.
Thanks
10-13 shots fired.
People say you can’t force something to be walk-able? They just did. Ask anyone in the new condos and apartments that are being built, that live in the apartments already by the Kroger, that live in houses around the Kroger – they can walk/ride bikes to Restaurants, grocery stores, bars, entertainment spots and more. They can already do it. It is walk-able. I live in Reynoldstown and I can pretty much do the same thing…especially after all the new construction there. Progress is great.
Widening roads in an attempt to ease traffic congestion, or to make the area more accessible by car, shouldn’t be a priority. That approach enables behavior in conflict with what the beltline is all about. Clearly it’s growth is changing lifestyles and behaviors for many of those living around it. Sure, there are growing pains. More parking restrictions, bike lanes, buses, and train options are needed, along with continued development of other sections of the beltline. But total reliance on a car shouldn’t be enabled. Adapt or get left behind.
The name ,Murder Kroger, certainly doesn’t stop anyone from spending their money there no more than Gay Kroger stops homophobes from shopping at Ansley. If it is your closest Kroger, and you appreciate their prices, you’re going, regardless of name. I was in South Carolina last summer, had a problem with my Kroger id number and the manager looked at me account, saw that I did most of my shopping in Atlanta, and said ” so you shop at murder Kroger”? I was surprised and tickled, and so was he. I believe Georgia is the only state that gives nicknames to some Krogers. We are famous??
–If this project involves tearing down the foul Clermont Hotel and sleeze pit Clermont lounge, this indeed will begin the way overdue process of purging the “Murder … ” handle.
That area for decades has lured in the lowest of dregs to room in a flop house setting and to partake in the trash with no class strip joint and stink hole bar that somehow gained a trendy rep. for those who hunger for slumming. Even upscale slummers and cheap-thrill seeking celebrities have adorned decals and patches acclaiming attitudes that they walked on the wild-side, dabbling with vermin who have prayed upon innocent or naive young and old who may have strayed too close to the rank atmosphere that always has swirled ’round that scene.
Wake up comment makers here. This area needs almost any kind of urban renewal. Too many have suffered via muggings, and yes! actual murder. Do your homework. Determine the police records that relate to the Clermont Hotel and Clermont Lounge. Contact the friends and family members who have contended with heart-breaking loss of those victimized by the dank-dark element of humanity that thrived amongst the rah-rah having their funk skunked.
And the sociopaths still crawl outta that locale despite the accepted dive bar/bucket list status donned by those who merely scatch the surface. If you only truly knew this breeding ground for murder and mayhem, you’d line up to take the first wecking ball swipes
at a real Heartbreak Hotel and Bung Hole Lounge.
What a horrible eyesore. I’m sure the design would be great somewhere else, but towering above Green’s?? Or let me guess, the shiny and pretty expansion will just continue down Ponce? If I sound a bit sensitive to the issue it us because I live in Buckhead where EVERYTHING is changing rapidly by people who don’t live there and deal with the outcome. I also lived on St. Charles forever so that area is near and dear.
This is welcome news. A high density, multi purpose, urban oriented development replacing a late 70’s store sitting in a sea of parking. The current use would not even be appropriate in Forsyth County. The Beltline is one of the best things ever to happen in Atlanta…it is stimulating true urbanization. I have been an in-owner since well before Intown was cool, and am often amused at the suburban mindset held by so many new-comers to Intown.
the bright vision of the future: beltline full of rollerbladers; gridlock throughout the city.
This is THE WORST IDEA EVER. Honestly. Traffic is BAD ENOUGH in this area, and only getting worse because of Ponce City Market. Now there’s supposed to be even MORE office space and MORE PARKING LOTS?!
If anyone with any kind of influence deigns to read these comments, please… contribute to making Atlanta a walkable city people can live in. Not a giant office park that people drive to from their homes 20 miles away.
It will always be “Murder Kroger “. Even if the building was torn Dow and the space was left vacant people would still make reference to the murder Kroger. It is forever.
I haven’t lived in Atlanta for many years, but when I was attending grad school from 2007-2009, I didn’t have a car. I relied on the MARTA and walking to get where I needed to go, and let me tell you – Atlanta is NOT a bikeable/walkable city. Just the vast sprawl of the city makes this impossible. Atlanta, from the north perimeter to the south perimeter is a little less than 20 miles as the crow flies. If they had appropriate rail service (not just a north-south and east-west line), this wouldn’t be an issue. But let’s say I want to get to somewhere in southeast Atlanta. I can’t if I want to bike/walk.
Building stuff like this isn’t going to fix the issue of Atlanta being a very pedestrian and bike un-friendly city. I remember being yelled at by a cop while trying to walk down the sidewalk on Peachtree St. because they were doing construction and had BOTH SIDEWALKS on both sides of the road closed. So I had to walk in the street. Is that pedestrian-friendly? No.
And to bring it back to relevance, it’s a shame that they’re tearing down an important supermarket in the area to make room for ‘mixed use development’, which is a gentle way of saying “we’re taking your grocery store away to make room for offices”.
Except for the fact they’re building a new Kroger on the exact same spot…
It’s the Kroger I shop at, yes the name is grim but Atlanta’s culture of naming Krogers is actually kind of cool. Disco, Confederate, Fiesta, Murder, Gay etc. I don’t see Publix or Whole Foods being referred to this way.
https://teespring.com/murder-kroger-tee2
Is Julia Sirb and actual graduate of the School of Urban & Economic Development at GSU? After reading her article I’d guess she is not. And/or Is she a graduate of a journalism school either in Atlanta or some other far off place? Again, I would guess not.
If you profess personal knowledge of urban development, redevelopment, urban economics, neighborhood economics, architectural fabric and scale of a given urban area; then you would never refer to an existing structure or location with a demeaning attention grabbing headline or caption or copy. Using “Murder Kroger” throughout your article underscores just how immature you are as a professional writer of all things urban.
Frankly, you should have moved the conversation to a much needed place which is a multi faceted development which would encompass Greens Liquor store, the Ford Factory (very poorly renovated decades ago), the Ford Factory parking lot and the new office loft/kroger complex. This kind of redevelopment could add thousands of square feet of retail, residential, commercial office, much needed green space and underground or core parking.