The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Inside City Hall
Mayor extols progress on creating affordable housing downtown
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens set a steep goal for himself
to create or preserve 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030, to help mitigate hardships for low-income residents while the city continues to grow.
Last week the first-term mayor gave an update on the ambitious target: the city has already completed over 3,000 units with nearly 5,000 more in the works.
“Our city cannot meet its full potential if our people do not have a stable place to lay their head at night,” Dickens said last Thursday.
The mayor’s remarks came at the grand opening of the city’s Housing Help Center, located at 2 Peachtree St. The city bought the 41-story building for $39 million to turn underutilized office space into a massive mixed-income, mixed-use space that will hold hundreds of housing units in the heart of downtown.
“It will bring more residents and a new life to downtown Atlanta,” he said of the project, which is adjacent to the Five Points MARTA station. “Two Peachtree will literally stand tall as a testament of our dedication to this work.”
The Housing Help Center aims to connect Atlanta residents with housing support and personalized case management. Atlantans will also be able to access housing resources at the Office of Constituent Services in City Hall.
Dickens attributed big steps the city has taken toward its affordable
housing goal to the administration’s effort to purchase new or to reoutfit old buildings, its focus on helping unhoused residents and dedication of funds toward keeping legacy residents in their homes.
The city scored a big win toward creating affordable housing units last May through partnerships with philanthropic groups — the Robert W. Woodruff and Joseph B. Whitehead foundations — and a City Council-approved $100 million housing bond that together made up the largest single investment in affordable housing in Atlanta history, according to the city.
Dickens said that next month Atlanta Housing will open up to 2,000 project-based housing vouchers.
Earlier this month, the mayor announced the city is filing a class action lawsuit against Millennia, the owner of the rundown Forest Cove apartment complex in southeast Atlanta, where residents have been living for decades with mold, rats and crumbling walls.
Dickens said as the city continues toward its goal of 20,000 affordable housing units, officials are looking to crack down on delinquent landlords, using an $800,000 funding boost from the Housing Trust
Fund toward code enforcement.
“We must ensure that no other property in Atlanta becomes the next Forest Cove,” the mayor said. “We will not allow slumlords in our city, and we will relentlessly go after those who put our residents at risk.”
A big welcome to the city’s
Department of Labor and Employment Service Commissioner John Flanagan, appointed last week to oversee Atlanta’s newly established labor department. The labor agency at City Hall, launched in July, aims to expand resources for employment and training to residents across the city.
Flanagan will take on the task of administering career-related efforts such as Summer Youth Employment and the apprenticeship program. The new member of Dickens’ cabinet has more than 15 years experience in workforce development and most recently served as the president/chief executive officer for Careersource Tampa Bay — a workforce development board in Florida.
Welcome to Trinity Avenue!
Also of note: City Council is on hiatus this week
and will be back Monday for its next full Council meeting. We’ll be curious to see what new legislation Council members have been working on during their few days off.