Invest Atlanta has approved $48 million in financing for 444 affordable housing units across seven developments, city officials said Wednesday.
Mayor Andre Dickens said the funding will go toward the creation and preservation of multifamily housing in the Southside, Westside and downtown areas of the city, providing homes for people below or at 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
Dickens, who has made affordable housing a signature policy of his first term, said the financing would bring the city “one step closer” to reaching its housing affordability goals. The economic development authority’s Board of Directors approved resolutions for the financing at its meetings in May, according to his office.
According to information provided by Invest Atlanta, the authority approved $48 million in financing to support seven developments.
The mayor, who often calls affordable housing “my love language,” wants to create or maintain 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030. His office said Invest Atlanta had assisted those ambitions by financing 3,314 affordable housing units for a total of about $1 billion in capital investment in housing.
“The Invest Atlanta Board continues to prioritize affordable housing investments so more Atlanta residents have access to safe, quality housing in the communities they choose to call home,” he said in prepared remarks.
The approved developments include Metropolitan Place. It will receive a $37.5 million tax-exempt loan and a $2.9 million housing opportunity bond loan for 176 units in a mixed-use development in the Perkerson neighborhood in southwest Atlanta.
A $2 million Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) increment grant will boost new construction of a mixed-use development in the historic West End Heights and Bankhead neighborhood called the City of Refuge Transformation Center. The tax allocation financing is a mechanism that allows the city to grant funds to public and private redevelopment projects.
The Lewis Crossing development will benefit from a Westside TAD Ascension Fund grant of no more than $1 million to help build 50 multifamily units in Castleberry Hill, southwest of downtown, according to the city.
Trinity United Methodist will receive an Eastside TAD grant of $2 million for new construction of 54 senior housing units in downtown.
Dr. Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, said the authority financed $175 million for housing initiatives in 2023.
“These investments are more than housing alone, they are a foundation for building strong inclusive communities,” she said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Dickens’s office also announced the passing of civil rights activist Hattie B. Dorsey.
In a tribute, Dickens called her a “tireless advocate for housing equity in our community,” and said she had led the housing advocacy organization Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership to “shape a more equitable housing landscape in Atlanta.”
“Her vision and dedication helped transform countless lives and neighborhoods, fostering a more inclusive Atlanta,” he said.
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