Global investment bank Goldman Sachs plans to provide $100 million to help fund new affordable housing projects within a mile of MARTA rail stations.
The city of Atlanta wants to promote and support the development of several mixed-income housing projects within proximity to MARTA’s 38 heavy rail stations and 12 Atlanta Streetcar light rail stops, according to a MARTA news release Friday.
The new partnership comes months after the Morgan Stanley bank and the National Equity Fund, a Chicago-based housing investor, pledged $100 million in January to preserve affordable housing near MARTA stations. Atlanta is trying to fulfill Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ goal of investing $1 billion to create or preserve 20,000 affordable housing units by 2026.
Asked about the investment from Goldman, Bottoms said she is grateful for the partnership.
”As our city continues to grow and we’re all very thoughtful about traffic and congestion and how we make our city an easier city to get around, making people feel comfortable using our public transit system is important,” she said, adding that she remembers riding MARTA as a young girl with her mother after the rapid rail system first opened.
MARTA General Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker said in a statement that Goldman Sachs’ partnership will support efforts to expand access to jobs, education, and affordable housing.
Goldman Sachs will place “a strong emphasis” on funding projects led by minority developers in accordance with the bank’s $10 billion commitment to racial equity by investing in Black women, according to the press release.
Some developments near MARTA stations already include affordable units, such as Thrive Sweet Auburn, an apartment building under construction near the King Memorial MARTA Station.
MARTA currently has 1,500 affordable housing units either completed, under construction, in negotiation or in procurement/planning, according to the press release. MARTA previously reported that a total of 114 affordable-housing units are located near its rail stations and another 153 are under construction.
AJC staff writer J.D. Capelouto contributed to this story.
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