The city of Atlanta’s new Urban Development Corporation (AUDC) this week approved a landmark agreement with Atlanta Public Schools (APS) that tees up the development of more than two-dozen acres of APS-owned land. The city created the AUDC last year to build mixed-income housing on city-owned land.
The AUDC board approved an intergovernmental agreement with APS on Thursday to transform eight vacant or idle school system properties into residential complexes packed with apartments affordable for low- and moderate-income households — namely, APS teachers, staff, and families.
The AUDC will lease these development-ready properties from APS and oversee the buildouts in partnership with private developers.
The first two APS properties slated for redevelopment are Lakewood Heights Elementary, which spans 2.1 acres at 335 Sawtell Ave., and Peeples Street School, a 6.2-acre swath located at 575 Peeples St.
All eight APS properties have gone severely underutilized for years, and especially those two: Lakewood Heights Elementary in south Atlanta shuttered in 2003, while Peeples Street school on the Westside has been left mostly untouched since the early 1980s.
“This agreement with AUDC will allow us to transform underutilized school sites into vibrant community hubs that expand access to affordable housing for our families and students and improve the overall quality of life for Atlanta families,” APS Superintendent Bryan Johnson said in a city press release.
The deal is a major win for historic preservationists who’ve fought to keep the school buildings from being torn down during redevelopment, said Atlanta Preservation Center’s executive director, David Mitchell. “The historic buildings will be the anchors of their communities, and the anchors of these developments.”
The Atlanta Preservation Center has been working with APS for several months “to create a process on how to evaluate and understand the historic buildings in their portfolio — and how to preserve these buildings,” Mitchell added. “And now, these efforts are coming together.”
AUDC didn’t say how many housing units could materialize at these locations or the other six school sites — or how quickly. But Mayor Andre Dickens’ top housing advisor, Joshua Humphries, called this a “groundbreaking moment in Atlanta Public Schools’ collaboration on housing.”
“For a very long time, we’ve been talking about using APS land for affordable housing,” Humphries told Atlanta Civic Circle. “This is the first time that is a reality that can actually occur.”
Sarah Kirsch, a board member for Atlanta Housing, which runs the AUDC, said the land development agreement with APS will produce stable housing that is affordable for teachers, staff, and students’ families, which will foster educational achievement.
“As a community, we know that the success of our schools and students has to do with more than what happens within the four walls of the classroom,” she said in an email. “We are thrilled to partner with APS on building thriving communities.”
Once the Lakewood Heights and Peeples Street pilot projects get underway, the AUDC will begin planning for the other sites, which include the former Gilbert Elementary School (7.5 acres), Collier Heights Elementary (6.4 acres), and an APS property on Simpson Road (6.1 acres).
The city development corporation will kick off community engagement efforts for the two pilot projects in the next month by hosting meetings with parents, teachers, staff, and neighbors. It will then issue requests for qualifications from private developers.