affordable housing

35-Unit Affordable Housing Complex Slated for The Bluff

/ Alexander Chenault / Leave a comment

On Friday, the Westside Future Fund announced their plans for a dilapidated, vacant 35 unit apartment complex in English Avenue.

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395 James P. Brawley Dr. NW was acquired by the Westside Future Fund and will undergo a $2 million  renovation. It will provide affordable housing to legacy residents in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods. “We want to make sure that Atlanta continues to be a place that’s affordable to all, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced at a press conference in front of the complex.

Atlanta City Councilman at Large, Michael Julian Bond said, “there’s no better location, no better space to live here right now on the Westside.”

James P. Brawley Dr. is ground zero of revitalization; Last year, 6 new homes were constructed on Brawley and made available to police officers. Last month, Chick-fil-A opened a new restaurant just a stone’s throw from the new Walmart on MLK and Brawley Dr.

It was just a few years ago that Bill Torpy published an article in the AJC wherein he opined, that “If I belonged to the family of Dr. James P. Brawley, I’d ask the city of Atlanta to remove his name from the stretch of urban rot that bears it.”

Now it appears that the stretch is an example of how The Bluff is bouncing back one parcel at a time.

Rev. Howard Beckham, president of the English Avenue Neighborhood Association and a long-time resident, said he is seeing improvements in the community.

In addition to the 35 units of affordable housing underway, the Westside Future Fund has acquired another 15 single-family homes, which it intends to make available to community residents.

Councilmember Bond said this has been a longtime coming. “It is really great to see the positive transformation taking place in this community … one family at a time, one household at a time, and one community at a time.”

 

 

 

Bulldozers, Hammers, and Hoes on Deck in English Ave

/ Alexander Chenault / Leave a comment

Tis the season to be jolly if you’re on the Westside. English Avenue, a neighborhood located just northwest of downtown Atlanta, has seen decades of neglect. However, two projects, within paces of each other along James P. Brawley Dr. NW, may be signals of a community on the come-up.

At 484 and 469 James P. Brawley Dr. NW, Quest Community Development Organization is building  affordable new construction single family homes. The move brings more homeowner occupied dwellings to a community with nearly 90% renters.

 

At the southern edge of this block, at the intersection of Jett St NW, is another planned  project, a community organic farm. Your Community Organic Garden is looking for volunteers and sponsors to help get garden hoes on deck.

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Just across the street, bulldozers are clearing a previously blighted parcel for construction of new affordable housing.

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2018 looks promising for the area. Quest Development has been actively improving and adding to the quality housing stock in Vine City English Avenue.  Blocks away, over on Cameron Alexander Boulevard, QCDO rehabbed an old 8-plex and created Quest Enclave, eight garden style apartments for previously homeless veterans.

QCDO’s $30 million plan, Quest West 2020, is to transform the intersection of Lowery and Boone into an intersection opportunity to “live-work-play-serve.”

QUEST WEST COMMONS & QUEST NONPROFIT CENTER FOR CHANGE

Quest Nonprofit Center for Change & Quest West Commons

 

Loft office, Artist studios, Coffee shop, & Affordable Housing Slated for Adair Park

/ Alexander Chenault / Leave a comment

Adair Park is the latest Downtown West neighborhood to receive some much needed economic development and housing. After years of fighting with Atlanta Public Schools over control of an abandoned schoolhouse in Adair Park, the century old building will be renovated and become The Academy Lofts.

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The Academy Lofts are slated for completion in early 2019.

According to Curbed Atlanta, in addition to 5,000 square feet of loft offices for small businesses, artist studios and a 1,300-square-foot coffee shop, the historic redevelopment project will create 35 “micro-units” of affordable “art-force” housing (reserved for artists)—and is utilizing a $1.5-million grant from Invest Atlanta as part of the Housing Opportunity Bond Program—in order to maintain affordability into the future. Funding will also come through historic tax credits.

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Slated for completion in early 2019, the project is using local developers, Stryant Investments and Building Insights who have partnered with arts nonprofit The Creatives Project to bring new life to the school, which has been abandoned for nearly 45 years. The auditorium will be converted into an art gallery and community events space.

Neda Abghari, executive director of the Creatives Project, said the concept is the first of its kind in the City of Atlanta. Read more and see renderings …

Several New Affordable Homes Headed for English Avenue

/ Alexander Chenault / Leave a comment

After the successful construction of 5 affordable homes along James P. Brawley Dr. NW in Vine City earlier this year (Phase I), the Atlanta Police Foundation has embarked on an even more ambitious project in neighboring English Avenue. In Phase II, a total of 20 newly constructed homes are planned for police officers and long-time neighborhood residents.

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Blighted apartments on Griffin Street have been demolished for new construction.

Demolition has already been completed of previously dilapidated homes and work is underway on Griffin Street to build several new homes for police officers and legacy residents, according to the Atlanta Police Foundation. The initiative, known as Secure Neighborhoods, is supported by the City of Atlanta, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and Westside Future Fund and is targeted towards three specific neighborhoods: Vine City, English Avenue, and Pittsburgh.

14657314_1843128382583026_3256136458837894640_nIn addition to removing blight and adding new residents to the Historic Westside communities, the Secure Neighborhoods programs seeks to increase police visibility, build connections between police and neighbors, and provide housing options for officers.  And its already seeing success; the Westside has seen a significant reduction in crime.

The organization is based on a public-private partnership model that has worked to secure and leverage private resources to fund high priority projects designed to enhance the City of Atlanta’s ability to fight and prevent crime. As a result of the work of the APF, since 2003 there has been an increase in the number of police officers on the streets and an increase in the engagement of Atlanta’s business community and neighborhood residents in fighting crime. Additionally, the City has experienced a 58 percent reduction in the violent crime rate and a 41 percent reduction in crimes overall.

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Another 10 homes are expected to be built as part of phase III in 2018. By 2020, the project will have constricted 35 new homes in downtown west.