The city of Atlanta on Monday set the stage for borrowing up to $100 million in bonds to invest into affordable housing.
The City Council ratified Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ executive order that issued $50 million in bonds to bolster Atlanta’s affordable housing stock — part of her promise to create or preserve $1 billion in affordable housing.
The council also authorized and pre-validated additional bonds that could be issued in the next two to three years, bringing the total to $100 million.
Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, will run the bond program, which could begin in the next few weeks. The city plans to invest the money into funding new affordable apartment units, help residents pay for repairs on their homes and support nonprofit developers who are building affordable housing, according to the budget for the program.
Bottoms’ executive order, issued several weeks ago, directed officials to find a way to issue bonds ultimately totaling $100 million.
“The passage of this legislation is a significant step in fulfilling our $1 billion commitment to the creation and preservation of affordable housing for all who call or wish to call Atlanta home,” Bottoms said in a statement. “Thank you to City Council and our partners for assisting the administration in ensuring that the future of this city does not price out our legacy residents or leave anyone behind.”
Councilman Matt Westmoreland said the bonds are “arguably the most important initiative I’ve helped push during my time at City Hall.”
“I’m proud of the future work it’ll fund, and I’m excited to start the year off with this,” he said.
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