Project to add more affordable housing on Atlanta's west side
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Developers will transform this old apartment building into an affordable housing complex. Photo: Kristal Dixon/Axios
Construction will soon begin on an affordable housing development in Atlanta's English Avenue neighborhood.
Why it matters: Adding more affordable housing is crucial in Atlanta — which has the worst income inequality among large U.S. cities — to help people live in a city where ongoing redevelopment and gentrification threatens to push lower-income residents out of their homes or out of the region altogether.
Driving the news: ARRC Capital Partners plans to transform a vacant, dilapidated apartment building at the corner of Proctor Street and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard into a 32-unit development.
- Most of the units will be affordable, with rents starting around $500 per month, and a few will be available at market rates, said Richard Taylor, managing partner with AARC Capital.
- He said he hopes to begin construction in the immediate future.
What they're saying: Taylor told Axios community members are eager to see the site redeveloped, as it's been sitting vacant for 20 years.
- "I think there's such an incredible need for affordable housing right now," he said, adding having more affordable homes and apartments could keep people from becoming homeless.
Catch up quick: This isn't AARC's first project on Atlanta's west side.
- In 2022, the developer opened 12Hundred Studios on Mobile Street in the Hunter Hills neighborhood.
- The garden-style complex includes 40 fully furnished studio units that are all affordable.
Zoom out: Boosting the city's affordable housing stock has been a goal for Mayor Andre Dickens, who wants to create or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030.
- The city in January opened The Melody in South Downtown, which converted shipping containers into housing, and is working on other initiatives.
- Dickens said last week that the city has nearly 9,500 affordable units either completed, funded or under construction.
- "I'm sure you all know by now that affordable housing is my love language," he said at a ribbon cutting for two homes purchased by Atlanta officers.
The big picture: Kyle Cleland, a realtor with eXp Realty who is partnering with Taylor on the Lowery Boulevard project, said communities on Atlanta's predominantly Black west side are rich in history, and "it's really, really incumbent on us to not allow that history to just go [by] the wayside."
- "Those places have so much character and have a story to tell, and we love being able to be a part of that," he told Axios.
What's next: Taylor said it would take about 12 months to finish construction on the Proctor Street project.