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On Monday, the Atlanta City Council green-lit legislation that will pave the way for some new affordable housing options in Southwest Atlanta.
The move sanctions the disposition of three city-owned surplus properties — “not useful to or needed by the city,” according to the legislation — in West End and Oakland City, each less than a mile from MARTA train stations.
The city will open up a request for proposals (RFP) process to solicit affordable housing ideas from developers, as part of the Affordable Housing Homesteading Program crafted by the city council in 2017.
The properties are in single-family residential communities close to the Beltline’s Westside Trail, where property values are already on the rise.
“The hope is that, with this land being used by a nonprofit or a developer in the affordable housing space, we’ll be able to provide housing at a price point much lower than would be available without this land being donated for this purpose,” said City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong in a video on Twitter.
Council member @NMArchibong discusses legislation the Council approved today authorizing the disposition of three City-owned properties through the request for proposal (RFP) process for development as affordable housing under the City’s Affordable Housing Homesteading Program. pic.twitter.com/qJ9ZvQUure
— Atlanta City Council (@atlcouncil) November 4, 2019
Two of the properties, one on White Street and the other on Edgefield Drive, are currently vacant, and the last houses a decades-old bungalow.
Currently, the city is only allowed to use surplus properties to create single-family affordable units, but Archibong said city leaders will soon approach state government officials for approval to develop multifamily projects on those parcels.