By Sean Keenan
Just a stone’s throw from the northern reaches of the Beltline’s Westside Trail, a 47-unit affordable housing complex is a just few months from completion.
This modest investment won’t fix all the affordability issues in a city oft-considered the U.S. capital of income inequality, but it at least moves the needle in terms of affordable housing stock along the popular multi-use trail that’s become notorious for driving up property values and pricing long-time Atlantans out of their neighborhoods.
Developed by North American Properties, the 60,000-square-foot community is called “The 1300” after its address on Mayson Turner Road in the Westside neighborhood of Hunter Hills.
It’s expected to feature 12 market-rate apartments—tentatively priced at $1,100 for a three-bedroom-two-bath and $950 for a two-bedroom-two-bath—and 35 affordable units, according to development officials.
The affordable units would cost no more than 60 percent of the market rate—between $570 and $660—and no more than 30 percent of residents’ monthly income, according to an NAP spokesperson. On track to be resident-ready by next year, the project just finished vertical construction across the street from the City of Refuge nonprofit and homeless shelter.
The development will serve as the residential component of the nonprofit’s Westside campus.
“The new apartment community will serve local residents as well as students who are engaged in City of Refuge’s collection of vocational training programs offered on campus,” said City of Refuge founder Bruce Deel, according to a press release.
City of Refuge, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Westside residents by way of vocational training, healthcare, and other initiatives, will help place people in The 1300.