Tracking Atlanta's affordable housing progress
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A rendering of the 44-story 2 Peachtree Street building once it becomes a mixed-use housing development in Downtown. Illustration: The Integral Group
Here's an overview on Atlanta's latest efforts to create or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030.
2 Peachtree posse
Atlanta's economic development agency has selected developers to transform the historic 2 Peachtree Street building into a residential, mixed-use property in the heart of Downtown.
Driving the news: The Invest Atlanta Board on Thursday approved plans to begin negotiating the terms of the redevelopment with four local companies in a joint venture known as Two Peachtree Partners, LLC.
Catch up quick: Atlanta paid the state of Georgia $39 million in 2022 to buy 2 Peachtree Street, a 890,000 square feet, 44-story office tower near Woodruff Park and the Five Points MARTA station.
- The city wants to build at least 200 units — roughly half the number when the project was originally announced.
What they're saying: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement last week that 2 Peachtree is potentially the city's "most ambitious" affordable housing project.
Of note: One of the developers involved is Lalani Ventures CEO Shaneel Lalani, who owns two properties adjacent to 2 Peachtree: the One Park Tower office building and the Underground Atlanta entertainment district.
Between the lines: Developer The Integral Group is also involved, with 2 Peachtree signaling an improved relationship with City Hall after a five-year legal stalemate over 75 acres of land elsewhere in Atlanta.
- Separately, T. Dallas Smith & Company is also involved. T. Dallas Smith established his company in 2007 with the blessing of Herman J. Russell, who once employed Smith and Integral CEO Egbert Perry at H. J. Russell and Company.
Housing atop a fire station
Meanwhile, city officials are moving forward with plans to build housing units on top of a Midtown fire station.
The latest: The Atlanta Urban Development Corporation (AUDC), an Atlanta Housing subsidiary, announced a search for a developer to turn Fire Station 15 on 10th Street into mixed-income housing.
- Context: City officials said at last year's Atlanta Regional Housing Forum that they want to build 30 to 40 stories of housing above the station on the nearly 1-acre site just a block from Piedmont Park.
Intrigue: AUDC's goal is to build and maintain majority ownership on mixed-income housing on publicly-owned land without using Georgia's "scarce, over-tapped" tax credits.
Zoom out: Atlanta plans to build a temporary, off-site fire station in Midtown to maintain fire and rescue operations during development, according to the subsidiary.
- But, the subsidiary says it's open to a new permanent location for the new fire station if the alternative site is within Fire Station 15's service area.
Details: The subsidiary is not seeking proposals right now, only qualified applicants.
What's next: The AUDC wants to select a developer by the end of March.
- More project details will be released after a developer is named.