Atlanta Housing Authority President and CEO Eugene Jones Jr. has announced his plans to step down from the city’s low-income housing agency at the end of the year.
Jones’ resignation will take affect Dec. 31, after more than four years in the position.
Neither the city nor the AHA gave a reason for the resignation. When Jones came to Atlanta in 2019, he had previously worked at housing authorities in at least eight other cities. He abruptly resigned from his position with the Chicago Housing Authority in 2019, ending what the Chicago Tribune described as “a highly acclaimed, 4-1/2-year run that brought stability to an agency that sorely needed it and compassion to public housing residents.”
Jones said in a statement that his experience in Atlanta has been “heartwarming,” and that the authority’s staff pushed “beyond boundaries to intentionally and unselfishly serve those in need.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to call my staff,” Jones said. “I tried my best to always put them and the residents first. I hope my staff will always remember how much I cared — sincerely cared — about them, their wellbeing and their families.”
Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement that he has requested a national search for a replacement.
Jones came to AHA in October 2019 as city officials sought stability after the housing authority had been mired in leadership turmoil and lawsuits. Rising rents and luxury home developments had meanwhile outpaced affordable housing construction for a decade.
But Jones stepped up to put shovels into the dirt for several future projects — including the long-delayed redevelopment of the Atlanta Civic Center.
Most recently, AHA and the city of Atlanta secured a $40 million federal grant for the transformation of the former Bowen Homes site. The AHA said the grant will pave the way for more than $500 million in neighborhood transformation on the westside of Atlanta.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
During Jones’s leadership, AHA invested $128 million in development, created 3,348 units of affordable housing and preserved 4,972 additional units, according to the agency. The city’s amount of subsidized housing vouchers also expanded, with over 19,000 households receiving housing vouchers as of July 31.
AHA also credited Jones for accelerating the $12 million redevelopment of the historic Roosevelt Hall. He also led the effort at Juanita H. Gardner Village, a $25.6 million project to construct 108 units for seniors that is set for completion at the end of 2023.
“Gene’s leadership has been invaluable,” AHA Board Chair Larry Stewart said in a statement. “He has brought stability to this agency, incomparable affordable housing knowledge and experience, compassion for both the residents and the staff, and he is leaving behind a roadmap for continued success.”
Dickens lauded Jones for supporting the city’s relocation of residents from the condemned Forest Cove complex. Jones also crafted a new five-year vision to put the organization on a path to create 10,000 units of affordable housing in eight years.
“Eugene has been a close partner on all our affordable housing efforts and thanks to his help, we are on track to reach our goal of creating or preserving 20,000 units over eight years,” Dickens said in a statement.
Jones also worked with Dickens to resolve the city’s five-year-old legal dispute with the Integral Group over a swath of untouched land that’s been in limbo. Dickens also replaced a majority of the AHA board during Jones’s leadership, and the new board went on to pass a historic $452 million budget to create preserve more affordable homes.
Regardless, during a housing forum last month, Jones stressed that their work isn’t “a numbers game.” He said “it’s not just about putting affordable housing up there, it’s about the people who are going to be going into it.”
He said affordable housing doesn’t work if the community doesn’t have input on development.
“The most important person in the city besides the mayor and probably the police chief and the fire chief is a housing authority because if something happens — a fire, earthquake, whatever — we got to be there,” Jones said.
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