Multi-use project breaks ground in Sweet Auburn

A new development combining affordable housing, business development programs and urban agriculture breaks ground this morning in Sweet Auburn.

Why it matters: Housing costs are rising. Wages are not. And Atlanta remains in an affordable housing crisis.

What's happening: Called Front Porch, the 100,000 square-foot project by the Historic District Development Corporation will bring co-living and new housing options to the historic neighborhood.

Details: The project includes 45 apartments — 100% of which will be affordable for a person making 60% to 80% of the area median income, or around $54,000.

• Developers also plan 16 for-sale units — 30% of which will be affordable for a two-person household earning roughly $67,500.
• In addition, it includes space for startups led by people of color and a 20,000 square-foot rooftop garden to grow food for tenants and the community.

On street level, the HDDC will build 25,000 square feet of commercial space. Eighty percent of the businesses are expected to be minority-owned, said the HDDC, a nonprofit developer behind such Old Fourth Ward projects as StudioPlex.

What's next: HDDC is raising funding to make more affordable homeownership opportunities available at a deeper subsidy, the organization told Axios Atlanta.