By Ellie Ritter
Atlanta BeltLine Inc. recently released its Affordable Housing Working Group Final Report, detailing efforts to develop better housing strategies around the BeltLine.
As one of the biggest urban developments nationwide in a rapidly growing city, ABI wants “to reinforce the goal that future benefits flowing from the Atlanta BeltLine must be available and affordable to all Atlantans, including low- and moderate-income families,” the report says.
In creating the report and housing plans, ABI formed a panel with members from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to serve as the ABI Affordable Housing Working Group. The panel includes members of ABI, the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, Invest Atlanta, the city’s Department of City Planning, the BeltLine Affordable Housing Advisory Board and more.
“This report would not have been possible without all of the right strategic alliances at the table,” Ernestine Garey, senior advisor to the CEO of Atlanta Housing and chair of the Working Group, said. “Likewise, a viable affordable housing initiative in Atlanta requires a comprehensive strategy where all key stakeholders are collaborating to ensure that we reach shared goals.”
The report proposes a number of goals and strategies for affordable housing development. One key point is that ABI intends to create and maintain a minimum of 5,600 designated affordable housing units within the BeltLine’s Tax Allocation District (TAD).
Currently, 1,600 such homes exist inside the TAD, so another 4,000 units must be created to meet that goal. Because ABI is neither a housing provider nor a development authority, though, the organization will rely on partnerships to meet the housing goal, the report said.
Another 1,042 affordable housing units exist in the BeltLine Planning Area, which extends half a mile beyond the TAD, and ABI plans to expand those as well.
To work toward the housing goals, the Working Group established eight key recommendations based on policy, zoning, and capital strategies. Additionally, the panel identified a number of action items, including allocating and expending a minimum of 15 percent of future TAD Bonds for affordable housing.
“Housing is key to affordability in Atlanta, and at ABI, we’re doing all we can to ensure that the benefits of the Atlanta BeltLine can be enjoyed citywide, across all economic demographics and within each neighborhood,” Brian P. McGowan, the outgoing CEO of ABI, said. “This report will help us move even further in that direction.”
The full report may be accessed here.
This article originally appeared on AtlantaLoop.com.
