Georgia officials allocate funding to expand affordable housing on Atlanta's southside
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff allocated $2 million in funding to expand Browns Mill Village, an affordable housing development near the Hapeville neighborhood.
The funding comes from Congress’s appropriations package and received bipartisan support.
Atlanta Habitat for Humanity is leading the project.
Browns Mill is Habitat’s first mixed-income housing project. The development has two phases. So far, construction for phase one has been ongoing since late 2021.
At least 75 single-family units and 59 townhomes are planned for the first round. The townhomes are part of a “SouthTown at Browns Mill Village” collaboration with Atlanta’s Cityscape Housing and Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership.
“I had the pleasure of spending some time in one of these homes, and this is the kind of place — the kind of space that Georgia families need and deserve,” Ossoff said. “It matters that we got this done with support of both parties in Washington.”
Alan Ferguson Sr. is the CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. He said potential buyers will be offered 0% interest on a 30-year mortgage.
“That’s the means where we create deep affordability for our homeowners,” Ferguson said. “So, on average they’ll pay for their housing cost between $750 and, maybe, $875 per month, and they own that home.”
Habitat will also provide a 12-month educational program for first-time home buyers to ensure the longevity of their purchase.
Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis said the new development helps bring low-cost housing to Atlanta’s southside.
“We’re actually being intentional with everybody in the City of Atlanta,” Lewis said. “They try to count rooftops in your community, so this brings rooftops and it keeps people who have already been here. It keeps us being able to afford it … so that means that we’re doing it right.”
Ossoff’s funding will go towards the first 20 homes of an additional 32 in the project’s second phase. Phase two will kick off next year, following the completion of the first round of homes.
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