131 Ponce de Leon Avenue, also known as the Gulf Oil Building, is the name of a former building in

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

at the southeast corner of

Ponce de Leon Avenue Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced ...

and Juniper Street, as well as the name of a

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

which incorporates portions of the Pei building's façade, adding 321 apartments and of retail space. The building was architect

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

's first project, built in 1949, a two-story "box that invoked the lean rectilinearity of

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

". The mixed-use development incorporates the entire block bounded by

, North Avenue, Piedmont Avenue and Juniper Street, except for St. Paul's church. A joint venture between real estate investment company Sereo Group Inc. and developer Faison Enterprises bought the site in 2012. In 2008, the block had been proposed for redevelopment as the "Fountain on Ponce" complex, but that project did not go through. The building was demolished in February 2013, but the Atlanta Preservation Center stated that its understanding that a portion of the façade was to be "resurrected as a shell" and incorporated into the new complex. The demolition involved taking apart the building piece by piece. The front portion of the building was then reconstructed for use as the clubhouse and offices of the mixed use development.

References

External links

Photo of Pei building on Skyline Views (blog)
{{I. M. Pei Demolished buildings and structures in Atlanta I. M. Pei buildings Mixed-use developments in Georgia (U.S. state) Office buildings completed in 1949 Office buildings in Atlanta