Category: Atlanta Civic Circle

In March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced local nonprofit Star-C to suspend its after-school programs, the organization quickly shifted its focus to helping communities brace for a torrent of evictions expected to devastate Americans financially strained by the public health crisis. On Tuesday, Star-C announced its Eviction Relief Fund — a program centered around facilitating remote […]

The new owner of a dilapidated apartment complex on Atlanta’s southside is gearing up to relocate its tenants so construction crews can begin bringing the community up to livable standards. For years, tenants at the Forest Cove apartments lived in what they called “uninhabitable” conditions, sharing space with rats, roaches and mold. In late April, […]

By this time next year, shovels could be chucking dirt to launch construction of Atlanta Housing’s (AH) biggest development in years. Dubbed Englewood South — a callback to the Englewood Manor public housing projects leveled at the southside Atlanta location years ago — the proposed development would offer more than 900 new residences, more than […]

On Wednesday, City of Atlanta leaders and developers celebrated the groundbreaking of Haven at South Atlanta, an 84-unit rental community that promises what officials call “deep affordability.” Seventy-one of those “garden-style apartments” — expected to be available in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans — will be affordable for families earning between 50 and 60 percent […]

Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore, a candidate for mayor, said the time is now to reign in the agencies that have been providing public assistance to developers when doing so isn’t necessary. Asked about the Development Authority of Fulton County [DAFC], for instance, Moore said, “The City of Atlanta, the City Council, we’ve all […]

Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown launched his bid for mayor with a pledge to “reimagine Atlanta.” That kind of ambition, of course, demands a tough look at myriad issues — crime, income inequality and education, among others — that can be addressed by first ensuring Atlantans have housing stability. “The crime we see is a […]

Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens, a candidate for mayor, said he intends to pursue some of the goals of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan. The plan, some of which he helped architect, provides a solid framework for future housing policies, he said. “Where I think it fell short was in […]

More than 24,000 names make up Atlanta Housing’s (AH) waiting list for rent vouchers. The coronavirus pandemic, of course, complicated the agency’s efforts to chip away at the backlog, but officials are optimistic that the waning of the public health crisis, coupled with assistance from the federal government, promises a brighter future for Atlantans seeking […]

Atlanta Housing (AH) officials on Wednesday took steps toward launching the second phase of construction on the agency’s first new build in over a decade. During Wednesday’s board of commissioners meeting, AH leaders authorized actions paving the way for the issuance of a $984,225 predevelopment loan for Herndon Square, a potentially $166 million mixed-use development […]

“I don’t think most Atlantans are scared of having people live near them who don’t make as much money as they do.” That’s Dentons attorney Sharon Gay, who recently kicked off her campaign for Atlanta mayor. Gay spoke with Atlanta Civic Circle about her goals for housing, including boosting affordability, rethinking the city’s zoning code and getting […]

As part of another $5 billion dispatch of emergency housing assistance funds, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted nearly 1,400 housing vouchers to public agencies across Georgia. These vouchers, announced on Monday and financed by Congress’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, represent a federal effort to reduce and prevent homelessness […]