Atlanta Housing (AH) is mulling a plan to reanimate Summerhill’s tallest building, the 16-story former Ramada Plaza hotel, with 231 affordable apartments for seniors.
The housing authority’s real estate committee on June 20 discussed a resolution that, if approved at an upcoming board meeting, would authorize the agency to ask the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s permission to spend up to $17.5 million to purchase the gutted hotel, located at 450 Hank Aaron Drive, from Pellerin Real Estate.
AH entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Pellerin in January, but the redevelopment is far from set in stone.
“If it could pencil out, it could be a great addition for affordability in what is a rapidly increasing value neighborhood,” AH board member Doug Hooker said during the committee meeting last week. “But I also hope that if it doesn’t pencil out well, that we’re prepared to walk away from it.”
Pellerin once envisioned an upscale adaptive-reuse project, with 260 micro apartments, coworking space, restaurants, a 13,000-square-foot food hall, and a rooftop pool with a clubhouse. But when those plans fell apart due to financial constraints, the company opted to instead unload the site, according to Urbanize Atlanta.
Now, AH’s working goal is to retrofit the old 400-room hotel with apartments — including studios, one- and two-bedroom units, and even a penthouse suite — for renters age 55 and up, as well as up to 33,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.
But the AH committee stopped short of voting on the proposal. “We’re exploring other options beyond senior housing and to really try to figure out what is the highest and best use for the property, given the transformation that’s going on in the Summerhill neighborhood and the momentum there,” said the housing authority’s new chief housing and real estate officer Alan Ferguson.
Just south of downtown, Summerhill’s development has taken off since 2017, when Georgia State University and its development partner Carter & Associates purchased dozens of acres of property for a massive revitalization effort that’s produced new apartments, shops, and restaurants around the Atlanta Braves’ former ballpark, Turner Field.
Summerhill’s transformation has brought housing affordability challenges — and AH and neighborhood leaders want to ensure additional development suits the community’s needs.
“The bottom line is, the devil is in the details,” John Helton, the president of the Organized Neighbors of Summerhill, said when informed of AH’s proposal for the Ramada Plaza hotel site in a June 21 interview. “We’re very supportive of affordable housing. We know we need it.”
“But we want it to be done well,” he added. “We want it to be managed well.”
AH’s redevelopment proposal for the Hank Aaron Drive site could include another landscape-altering opportunity: “This particular property has a parking deck which, we understand, was built and structured so that it could support a second tower to be built at some time,” Ferguson said.
That’s part of why AH officials punted on a vote last week; they still need to determine whether the “bonus opportunity” of adding a second tower is feasible.
Helton didn’t balk at the idea of a second tower, but he said he’d want to see the finer points of the plan before voicing support. “I would want to look at the density and look at the overall plan for what they say they’re doing,” he said.
Helton lauded Carter for its impressive community engagement efforts during the neighborhood’s redevelopment, and said he’d like to see that replicated if AH moves forward with the deal.
“Carter is the textbook example of how to engage with the community,” Helton said. “They did a really nice job over the past several years … keeping people abreast.”
Reduced Rent Burden: Lower housing costs allow residents to allocate more of their income to other essential needs like food, healthcare, and education.
How much is the one bedroom cost and is it low income