The City of Refuge, the intown ministry for homeless people, plans to upgrade a derelict building on Atlanta’s Westside into affordable apartments.
The long-vacant building on Chappell Road once housed one of Atlanta’s first Black-owned motels, the Danzig Motel.
City of Refuge will invest about $2 million to rebuild the vacant structure, with work starting this spring, said the organization’s CEO Bruce Deel. It’s located a few blocks from the former Quarry Yards development site, the Beltline walking path and the new Westside Park.
The Danzig building still has “good bones,” Deel said, and most of the original structure will be retained by construction firm Pencor of Alpharetta. Work should be done by January.
The 345, named for the building’s street number, will include 31 affordable units. The ministry plans to fill the units with men who are military veterans or have struggled with incarceration, mental health and addiction issues, Deel said.
“We’re gearing this toward men who find themselves in a difficult position in life,” he said.
Several groups want to develop affordable housing on the Westside. Last week, the Atlanta Affordable Housing Fund said it will loan up to $2 million to the Grove Park Foundation to purchase property for future affordable housing.
The Danzig building is near the City of Refuge main campus on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard. The 345′s residents will be enrolled in the City of Refuge’s vocational training programs.
City of Refuge also operates The 1300, a nearby apartment complex with affordable units for families.
The Danzig Motel was opened by O.T. Bell in 1959. Antioch Baptist Church operated an HIV center there, starting in 1997, but the building has been vacant for about 20 years.
City of Refuge associates are working to dig up more details on the building’s history, and Deel hopes the renovation will encourage people to provide more of the motel’s history.
With all the construction going on nearby, Deel said The 345 development can help some of the neighborhood’s longtime residents remain.
“I want to make sure we don’t displace the current residents who can’t afford the increase in real estate values,” he said.
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