Construction is underway for a new housing project in southeast Atlanta.
Haven at South Atlanta will be an 84-unit apartment complex located at 57 Hardwick Street, which is vacant wooded land adjacent to the Luther J. Price Middle School. The Pennrose real estate firm partnered with the Focused Community Strategies nonprofit to develop the project.
“This project is big,” said Jim Wehner, president of Focused Community Strategies. “We just feel like we’re swinging above our batting average and it feels really good.”
Haven will consist of four, three- to four-story buildings, according to a project description submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. A total of 71 units will be available at 50% to 60% of the area median income in an effort to provide affordable housing to residents.
The amenities planned for Haven include a business center, club room, fitness space, on-site management suite, parking and bicycle spaces. Residents will also benefit from on-site supportive and social services offered through Focused Community Strategies and Pennrose.
Proposed rents for one-bedroom apartments will start at $544 up to $1,115 for three-bedroom units, documents show. Construction is slated for completion in late 2022.
Christopher Nunn, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, said roughly $13 million in capital funds went into the project. Haven is also one of the 32 affordable rental housing properties statewide that received some of the $25.8 million federal housing tax credits awarded by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
City Councilwoman Carla Smith said she’s happy everyone could come together to provide more “multifamily, affordable” housing in the city. Pennrose regional vice president Amon Martin called South Atlanta “one of the best kept secrets” in the city.
Invest Atlanta president and CEO Eloisa Klementich said Atlanta is “more than” halfway to its goal of putting $1 billion into affordable housing. She said her organization has helped to create 2,277 affordable units since last year.
Even so, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said her administration recently learned that communities “still don’t feel like we’re doing enough as it relates to affordable housing.”
Bottoms, who announced last month that she’s not seeking reelection, said she hopes her successor will continue her “very ambitious” goal of investing $1 billion into housing to create or preserve 20,000 affordable units by 2026.
“It is my sincere hope that whoever has the privilege of leading our city in its next and best chapter will continue to keep our communities top of mind,” she said.
About the Author
