AmericasMart unveils details about Building Two expansion

AmericasMart Atlanta plans to add more than 250,000 square feet of home showroom space as part of its downtown campus expansion.

When Building Two West Wing opens in 2008, it will create space in Building One for the added furniture showrooms, mart officials said.

The furniture and home furnishings showrooms in Building One will open in space previously occupied by the High Design home furnishings collection on floor 10 and The Gardens on floors 14 and 15.

The category expansion increases the home furnishings product mix in AmericasMart Building One, on Home floors in Building Two, and in 10 temporary categories.

AmericasMart's home category currently encompasses almost 2 million square feet and more than 25 floors of furniture, home furnishings and area rug products.

After Building Two West Wing's opening, AmericasMart One will house 21 contiguous showroom floors of home furnishings products.

Building Two West Wing is a 1.5 million-sq.-ft. expansion housing trade show exhibit halls and permanent showrooms. Building Two West Wing will bring the campus size to more than 7.7 million square feet.

Building Two West Wing offers exhibitors features such as ceiling heights exceeding 18 feet, wide-span floor plans maximizing exhibit hall visibility, advanced vertical transportation systems and multi-sensory interactive features in two AmericasMart signature categories, The Gardens and Gourmet.

Building Two West Wing, designed by John Portman & Associates, will integrate more than 12 floors of exhibit halls and permanent showrooms. Here is a rundown of plans for floors in the new building:

Floors one through four will offer temporary exhibit halls accommodating AmericasMart's High Design collection, an expanded gourmet products collection, an expanded garden products collection, plus new categories in development for 2009 introduction.

Floor six will house new and expanded general gift showrooms, extending AmericasMart Two's six-floor general gift category.

Floor seven is the new home for the Gourmet Gallery/Gift & Resort, with floor eight housing gourmet products, plus housewares.

Floor eight gourmet and housewares showroom spaces will surround a state-of-the-art, real-time demonstration kitchen for broadcast-television-quality culinary demonstrations and events.

Floors nine and 10 will become the new home to AmericasMart's Living, which will be home to outdoor/indoor in a setting that captures the spirit of The Gardens through new spaces and features a two-story, fiber-optic waterfall that will anchor and unify the floors.

Building Two West Wing is on schedule for 2008 occupancy and a January 2009 market opening.