Atlanta to break ground on third "rapid housing" project
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A rendering of the third "rapid housing" project the city plans to build on the northwest corner of 17th Street and Northside Drive. Photo: Niles Bolton Associates
Now that Atlanta has completed two "rapid housing" initiatives, it's turning its attention to a third location.
Why it matters: The city wants to open 500 of these units by the end of next year.
The latest: Atlanta could break ground on its third rapid housing initiative before the end of the month, said Josh Humphries, senior housing advisor to the mayor.
- The property, which is owned by the city, is located at the northwest corner of 17th Street and Northside Drive.
- Plans call for using modular units to construct 100 residences.
- "It'll be hard to tell that it's modular housing," Humphries told Axios. "It'll just look like a traditional three-story multifamily building."
Catch up quick: This third project comes on the heels of Atlanta officials last week opening 729 Bonaventure, which has 23 units reserved for people who are unhoused. While there, residents will be able to get mental health and other support services they need.
- Bonaventure, a building that dates back to the early 1900s, is in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and is a few blocks from Ponce City Market.
- Each unit has its own washer, dryer and other amenities you would see in a typical apartment, and Humphries told Axios the city expects residents to start moving in before the end of the year.
- It's similar to The Melody, which features 40 converted shipping containers on city-owned property on Forsyth Street near the Garnett MARTA Station in South Downtown.
Zoom in: The city's Rapid Housing Initiative provides "quick-delivery housing" as well as mental health and other "wraparound services" to people experiencing homelessness, Humphries said.
The big picture: Humphries told Axios there's an immediate need for housing for unsheltered people, but the traditional way of building multi-family units takes a long time to deliver.
- So the city has two goals: meet the emergency needs to get unsheltered people off the street, and experiment with new ways of delivering housing that allows traditional units to be built faster.
- That means looking at ways to make construction and design plans for the housing market more efficient, a priority for the mayor, Humphries told Axios.
- "These two projects that we've done are for formerly homeless individuals, but [with] the construction methodologies that we're using, we think can translate well into market rate housing and more traditional housing work," he said.
The bottom line: It takes years for traditional housing plans to come to fruition, and with Atlanta's growing population, speeding up the delivery process will "relieve pressure on the housing market and help us keep this an affordable city to live in," Humphries told Axios.