Kirkwood church housing plan faces key vote
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Turner Monumental AME Church and Stryant Investments' proposed senior housing development in Kirkwood. Rendering: Stryant Investments
A Kirkwood church's proposal to turn a vacant lot into dozens of affordable apartments for formerly unhoused seniors faces a crucial rezoning vote Thursday.
Why it matters: Easing Atlanta's affordable-housing crunch will require building housing — lots of it.
- Every proposal to build the sorely needed units has the potential to become a tug-of-war between what a neighborhood wants and what underserved populations need. This case is no different.
Zoom in: Turner Monumental AME has partnered with Stryant Investments, an experienced affordable-housing developer, to build 47 "micro units" on a church-owned corner lot down the street from the church.
- The roughly 260-square-foot units would be geared toward seniors living on very low incomes or who recently experienced homelessness. Residents would have access to large common areas and green space.
As with Stryant's recently built housing development in nearby Reynoldstown, residents would have on-site supportive services like mental health and substance-abuse counseling.
Yes, but: Like the Reynoldstown project, the church's plan has prompted pushback from Kirkwood residents, some of whom have organized to block the rezoning.
- They say that the proposal packs too many people on a small parcel with not enough parking. Some said permanent supportive housing doesn't belong in a single-family neighborhood.
The intrigue: In late January, Neighborhood Planning Unit O rejected the church's proposal to rezone the 0.66-acre lot.
- Though nonbinding, NPU votes do signal to City Hall the sentiments of the community's most engaged residents.
The other side: Church officials and supporters say the development would help them live out their mission and include people living on low incomes in an expensive neighborhood.
- "What if, instead of asking only what might go wrong, we also dared to ask what might go right?" Turner Monumental Pastor Jeff Cooper wrote in a Jan. 29 Decaturish op-ed.
Zoom out: Mayor Andre Dickens has encouraged houses of worship with vacant land or underused parking lots to partner with developers to build affordable housing and earn lease revenue.
What's next: The city's Zoning Review Board will consider the church's rezoning request Thursday at 6pm at City Hall. Watch online.
- The board's recommendation will then go before the Atlanta City Council.