Atlanta mayor wants to transform city-owned land into affordable housing
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wants to transform 1.34 acres of city-owned land into affordable housing.
The mayor’s office announced Thursday that Invest Atlanta is working with Atlanta’s planning department to find a developer who can redevelop 104 Trinity Ave SW into a housing site that will accommodate a diversity of income levels.
Bottoms, who is not seeking reelection, wants to ensure mixed-income rentals are available to the city’s workforce. She’s said that she hopes her successor will continue her administration’s goal of investing $1 billion into housing to create or preserve 20,000 affordable units by 2026.
“Activating and redeveloping public land expands access to affordable housing for all who wish to call Atlanta home,” Bottoms said in a statement. “To have this physical, tangible commitment to housing equity literally across the street from Atlanta City Hall should serve as a reminder that Atlanta is a city for everyone.”
Developers can find the request for proposals on Invest Atlanta’s website.
Residents who make up to $18,120 would pay $485 for a 1-bedroom unit and $750 for a 4-bedroom unit, according to the mayor’s office. In addition to housing, the city would also like the site to provide retail, rooftop farming, restaurants, office spaces, recreational options, daycare, barber shops, and banking, among other “routine services.”
Tim Keane, Atlanta’s planning commissioner, said in a statement that redeveloping underutilized public land for affordable housing is an “innovative and actionable” strategy that needs to occur to support residents.
Eloisa Klementich, the Invest Atlanta president and CEO, said in a statement that land acquisition is a “significant cost driver” in affordable housing development, so the redevelopment of the city-owned parcel is “a great opportunity” to add affordable housing in one of the city’s most central and convenient locations.
Developers have until 5 p.m. Oct. 13 to respond to Atlanta’s request. The city wants to begin contract negotiations in February.
About the Author
Wilborn P. Nobles III covers Atlanta City Hall for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He began covering DeKalb County Schools for The AJC in November 2020. He previously covered Baltimore County for The Baltimore Sun and education for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. He interned at the Washington Post. He graduated from Louisiana State University.
