The Athens-Clarke County Commission approved subsidies for a new low-income affordable housing development off Hull Road at a called meeting Dec. 12.
The Athens Housing Authority is working with Indianapolis real estate company Birge & Held and Decatur-based nonprofit Tapestry Development Group on the development, known as Athens Flats. It will consist of 192 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments totaling 305 bedrooms near the growing “Space Kroger” area around the intersection of highways 29 and 72, and a short distance from various industries along Hull Road.
“That’s exciting,” Commissioner Melissa Link said. “That’ll start to put a dent in our affordable housing [shortage], and in a location that’s adjacent to shopping, groceries, near jobs—the kind of location where folks can get where they need to go and not be stranded in the middle of nowhere.”
Funded with tax credits and low-interest bonds through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the units will be available to residents who make less than 60% of the area median income. The AMI, set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, varies by household size. At the 60% level, it is currently about $34,000 for a single person or $49,000 for a family of four.
Most of the units will be leased at a fixed monthly rent averaging $1,000 a month, according to an official with Birge & Held. Thirty-eight will be reserved for participants in the Section 8 voucher program, who pay 30% of their income in rent.
To support the project, the commission agreed to waive $872,000 in water and sewer connection fees, and to allow the developers to make a discounted payment in lieu of taxes of $91,000, increasing by 3% each year. Those payments will go into the county’s affordable housing trust fund. The local subsidies amount to $13,000 per unit, according to AHA Executive Director Connie Staudinger, and will allow the development partners to borrow more money.
The affordability requirement for tax-credit projects sunsets after 18 years, but when completed AHA will take the deed to the property and lease it back to the private developers for 99 years. If it is ever sold, AHA has the right of first refusal to buy it. “As a result, the affordability of the housing will be guaranteed long-term,” Staudinger said.
Senior Housing Downtown
The Athens Downtown Development Authority is discussing plans to partner with a private developer to build senior housing on a county-owned Dougherty Street parking lot. But the plans are on hold while Athens-Clarke County finalizes a site for a new courthouse.
The ADDA has been looking to redevelop the surface lot in front of Hotel Indigo for years, but other projects like a small-business incubator have fallen through. The most recent proposal consists of 120 units for seniors—20% of them below market rate—wrapped around a 500-space parking deck. Four hundred people are currently on an ADDA waiting list for reserved parking downtown.
However, there is a chance the ACC government may need that lot for parking for a new judicial center. The commission’s first choice is the Stephens Federal Building downtown, but if it’s not available, the fallback is those parking lots on the other side of Dougherty.
“We want to figure out where the courthouse is going before we sell any county-owned land downtown,” ADDA Director of Planning David Lynn said.
Mayor Kelly Girtz, who sits on the ADDA board, said he’s had discussions with the General Services Administration about buying the Hancock Avenue federal building, which currently houses mostly U.S. Department of Agriculture employees since the Social Security office moved to Prince Avenue. The building is not officially for sale, but Girtz said he hopes to offer the U.S. government other space in exchange for the Stephens building.
Voters approved $77 million in sales tax revenue for a new judicial center to relieve courthouse overcrowding as part of SPLOST 2020. Once built, the judicial center will house courts and other related functions, while ACC will consolidate scattered city offices into the existing courthouse, which cannot be expanded.
The ADDA board also discussed working with Historic Athens, the historic preservation nonprofit that runs the Athens Welcome Center, to start an “ambassador” program at its Dec. 14 meeting. The ambassadors would roam downtown offering assistance to visitors, like giving directions or recommending restaurants. A pilot program last summer was successful, Lynn said, but he and board members want to pare back a $160,000 annual proposed budget.
Remember the parking meters on College Square where people could donate their change to the homeless? They were removed during the Clayton Street reconstruction because they only raised about $200 a year, but the ADDA is considering a modernized version based on a program in Greenville, SC. That city displays signs with a QR code that people can scan with their phones, taking them to a site where they can donate as an alternative to giving money to panhandlers.
“A lot of the folks who give money to panhandlers are students, and I think this is something they’d do and feel good about,” ADDA Director of Business Services Linda Ford said.
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
