Across from Hotel Clermont, the row of mostly dark storefronts where Java Jive served biscuits for nearly 31 years is now at the center of a proposed 375-unit redevelopment.
China Dragon, Gusto! and the original Honey Bubble Tea also operated on this block between Bonaventure Avenue and Maiden Lane.
What cleared, and what has not
On Aug. 6, 2026, attorney Jessica Hill appeared before Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board on behalf of Selig Enterprises. She asked the city to rezone the 1.75-acre site from C-1 commercial zoning to MRC-3, which allows housing above street-level commercial space.
The board recommended approval with conditions, matching earlier recommendations from city staff and NPU-F.
City Council still must act on the rezoning. Until then, the property’s zoning has not changed.
The proposal calls for 375 rental apartments, including studios and one- and two-bedroom units, with 10,000 square feet of commercial space at sidewalk level. The available rendering shows the building rising roughly 13 stories along Ponce and stepping down to nine stories near the single-family homes on Maiden Lane. A greenspace buffer is planned along the rear of the property.
ATL Vibes & Views reported in March that the project could reach 14 stories. The August materials provide a clearer picture: approximately 13 stories on Ponce and nine at the back.
What neighbors will feel
For residents along Maiden Lane, the most immediate physical change would be the nine-story rear portion of the building and its landscaping buffer. For people walking along Ponce, the proposal would add new storefronts where several spaces are now vacant. For renters, it would add 375 units in Virginia-Highland.
Traffic remains the central unresolved concern. Hill told the board that neighbors’ concerns were predominantly about traffic. A traffic study was completed at the request of the Virginia-Highland planning committee, but what it recommends for Ponce remains unclear.
Selig has not announced a demolition or construction schedule.
Ponce has seen a large proposal stall before
In 2022, Portman Holdings presented plans for a nearby multi-block redevelopment with 354 apartments, 470,000 square feet of offices and roughly 38,000 square feet of retail.
The Virginia-Highland Civic Association and NPU-F unanimously supported the proposal in March 2023. Five months later, Portman said changing economic conditions had affected the viability of new projects and that it would not purchase several parcels. Later reporting described the company as having backed away from the larger redevelopment.
Some businesses along the corridor later closed, but their circumstances were different. Bookhouse Pub was on the Portman block. Java Jive was on Selig’s block, and its owners said they closed because they were tired after nearly 31 years. No source reviewed for this article connects Java Jive’s closing to Selig’s proposal.
The comparison matters because neighborhood support and zoning progress do not guarantee construction.
What may be different this time
Rough Draft Atlanta reports that Selig has owned most of this block for approximately 60 years. Its holdings include buildings between 780 and 798 Ponce, and the proposed footprint also includes 774 Ponce, formerly occupied by Vesta Movement.
That ownership removes some of the parcel-assembly uncertainty that affected the earlier Portman proposal. It does not provide a construction date.
The rendering shows what could replace these storefronts. The more important evidence will be the conditions attached to the rezoning, the recommendations in the traffic study and an actual demolition schedule.
When City Council votes, the question is not simply whether Selig receives approval. It is what the company commits to doing next.
