Download summary of proposed national register/georgia register nomination

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED NATIONAL REGISTER/GEORGIA REGISTER NOMINATION
1. Name: Sears, Roebuck and Co.
2. Location: 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia
3a. Description: The Sears, Roebuck and Co. building is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta. It encompasses an entire city
block and is bounded on the north by Ponce de Leon Avenue, on the east by the Atlanta BeltLine trail, on the south by North Avenue,
and on the west by Glen Iris Drive. In 1926 the City of Atlanta extended North Avenue east to Glen Iris Drive in order to give the
property's rear frontage an outlet. A steel railroad trestle runs behind the building and was reused as part of the connection to the
BeltLine. The Atlanta BeltLine is a redevelopment project that will provide a network of public parks, multi-use trails, and transit along
a historic 22-mile railroad corridor circling the city when it is completed.
The main building, completed in 1926, is a nine-story plus basement commercial building of reinforced concrete construction with brick
veneer. A warehouse, attached to the south side of the main building, was completed that same year. Italian Renaissance Revival-style
ornamentation exists on a central tower facing Ponce de Leon Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Atlanta. The first addition to the building
was completed in 1932 on the west side of the building and the second addition, completed in 1948, was built behind the 1932 addition.
In 1966 a nine-story warehouse with three-story section was added behind the main building adjacent to the railroad tracks. Six more
stories were added atop the three-story section in 1971 to complete that addition (noncontributing). The additions are all of similar style
and construction. Other buildings on the site include what was an automotive service center (1966 - noncontributing) on the southwest
corner of the property, and a c.1966 loading shed (noncontributing) on the east side abutting the former railroad tracks. The building
retains its multi-light metal windows, concrete columns, concrete floors, wood floors, stairs, and elevators. The complex has recently
undergone rehabilitation and the former open retail and warehouse spaces have been converted to new retail, office, restaurant, and
apartment spaces known as Ponce City Market.
3b. Period of Significance: 1926-1948
3c. Acreage: Approximately 16 acres
3d. Boundary Explanation: The boundary includes the entire legal parcel associated with the property.
4a. National Register Criteria: A and C
4b. National Register Areas of Significance: Architecture and Commerce
4c. Statement of Significance: The Sears, Roebuck and Co. building is significant in the area of architecture for its commercial design
with elements of the Italian Renaissance Revival style on a central tower. The design followed a formula that Sears, Roebuck and Co.
had developed in the first decade of the 20th century. The young Chicago firm of Nimmons and Fellows was chosen to design the first
Sears complex in Chicago and the successor firm of Nimmons & Company designed the Atlanta building. All of the Sears distribution
centers/retail stores, including the one in Atlanta, featured a long, multi-story commercial building relieved by a central tower. The
architecture of the towers varied and was the only part of the building to receive ornamentation. The Atlanta building uses early 20th
century building techniques including reinforced concrete in the floors and mushroom columns, and using brick curtain walls throughout.
The building and warehouse were completed in 1926. Additions to the building were completed in 1932, 1948, and 1971.
The building is significant in the area of commerce as one of two distribution centers in the Southeast constructed by Sears in the mid1920s. Sears’ mail-order business was expanding at a rapid pace during the 1920s. The growing trend of urbanization in the country
was understood by the management as an opportunity to grow their retail business. The building, a combined retail and distribution
center, was a ground-breaking commercial business model designed to appeal to city dwellers. It was one of the largest retail buildings in
Atlanta at the time of its construction.
4d. Suggested Level of Significance: The property is proposed at the local level of significance as an excellent example of a large
commercial building, with elements of the Italian Renaissance Revival style, and a relatively intact example of a distribution/retail center
for one of the country’s largest 20th -century retail operations, in Atlanta.
4e. National Register Status: The property received final certification from the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of
Natural Resources for the state property tax abatement and state income tax credit programs on December 17, 2015. The property
received final certification from the Tax Incentives Program, Technical Preservation Branch, National Park Service on June 16, 2016.
5. Sponsor: The property owners sponsored the nomination. The nomination materials were prepared by Ray, Ellis & LaBrie
Consulting.
Summary prepared June 2016/LS