July 26, 2023 | Warren Shoulberg
When you come to the next International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta in 2024 you may be able to see more of the burgeoning mass timber movement firsthand.
The City of Atlanta is set to get its second mass timber structure, providing showgoers to next year’s International Woodworking Fair a chance to see more of this new construction technology firsthand.
Atlanta’s Buckhead Village development review committee has approved plans to build a 20-story multi-family mass timber structure on East Paces Ferry Road, one of the trendiest streets in that very trendy upscale neighborhood.
And if the 516,000 square-foot tower is not quite completed in time for the 2024 Fair – it still needs City Planning authority approval – it should be well on its way for a drive-by. The structure, which will be constructed mostly of mass timber, will feature 314 residential units, retail space, parking for 300 cars, and 36 bikes too. Building plans also call for extensive recycling programs, composting stations, and even low-flow toilets.
When completed the structure will join another mass timber building being built at part of the popular Ponce City Market complex. Located at 619 Ponce, the four-story mass timber loft office building includes 90,000 square feet of office space and 23,000 square feet of street-level retail space. According to published reports, it will use cross-laminated timber sourced from local sustainably managed forests in Georgia and Alabama.
The mass timber movement is gaining momentum around the world. The tallest structure ever built of wood recently opened in Oregon and a developer in Sweden is planning an entire city neighborhood made just of mass timber.
Mass timber continues to gain popularity worldwide, and now Atlanta will have multiple examples to check out when you’re here for next year’s IWF.
International Woodworking Fair
Tuesday–Friday
August 25–28, 2026
Georgia World Congress Center
285 Andrew Young International Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30313