Community farm to open alongside future housing project
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Volunteers participate in a first planting ceremony at the Leila Valley Community Farm in southeast Atlanta. Photo: Courtesy of Atlanta Housing
Atlanta Housing is partnering with a local nonprofit to provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables in a community where it plans to build residential units.
The latest: Atlanta Housing and Food Well Alliance are teaming up to open the Leila Valley Community Farm.
- The 7.4-acre plot, which has been vacant since 2008, is part of a larger, 14-acre site that will include a mixed-income housing component, said Dr. Alan Ferguson Sr., chief housing and real estate officer with Atlanta Housing.
- Other components of the farm will include 2 acres for a fruit orchard tree, community garden beds, storage for cold items, tools and farm equipment, and education and gathering spaces.
- A ceremonial first planting was held this month.
What they're saying: Ferguson said Atlanta Housing opted to partner with Food Well Alliance because it not only works to distribute food to less fortunate families, but also helps people develop workforce skills.
- "When you think about the work that they do coinciding with the work that we do here at Atlanta Housing, it just made sense for us to work together on this particular project," he said.
Catch up quick: The site is within the larger Leila Valley community, a small neighborhood bounded by Forrest Park Road to the west, Constitution Road to the north and Moreland Avenue to the east.
- It was home to a 175-unit housing project constructed in 1970 that was demolished in the late 2000s.
The big picture: Ferguson told Axios the Leila Valley project is an opportunity to incorporate healthy food access into developments that provide housing for the people who need it the most.
- The city has been working with Invest Atlanta, its economic development arm, to incentivize small grocers to open in areas with poor access to healthy food.
- The USDA classifies places with low access to healthy and affordable food — commonly referred to as food deserts — as, among other things, census tracts with at least 500 people who live more than one mile in urban areas or 10 miles in rural communities from the "nearest supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store."
- The closest supermarket to Leila Valley is Aldi, which is two miles north at 1461 Moreland Ave.
What's next: Ferguson said Atlanta Housing is still in the "visioning stage" for the residential component and expects to gather community feedback within the next 90 to 120 days.
- Once that is complete, it will begin preliminary design work on what the development could entail.