On Thursday, September 22, residents of the former Boynton Village received a warm welcome home to the newly renovated Stanton Oaks Apartments. The rehabilitation of the 43-unit family apartment complex in Peoplestown features brand-new amenities for the residents to use and enjoy, including a multipurpose community room, a fully equipped fitness center, a computer center, a laundry facility, an outdoor grilling area and a state of the art tot-lot. Stanton Oaks is an affordable housing development, and tenants returned to their upgraded apartment homes with no increase in rent. The redevelopment is a result of a public-private partnership between Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., Invest Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Woda Group, Inc. and Parallel Housing, Inc.
The redevelopment happened with full input and cooperation from the residents of Boynton Village. To minimize the impact on families during the rehab, the developer took measures such as working with school administration to reroute buses. Additionally, during community meetings, safety emerged as an important issue for residents. As a result, the new space includes a “Neighborhood Crime Prevention Center” to be used by Atlanta Police Department officers to encourage police presence.
The rehabilitation, which cost a total of $7.8 million, received an $800,000 grant from the BeltLine Affordable Housing Trust Fund (BAHTF), which is supported by Invest Atlanta and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI). Stanton Oaks was also awarded $428,000 in federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The affordable housing project is targeted toward individuals and families with income-levels below 50% of area median income (AMI).
Councilmember Carla Smith and Columbus Ward, President of the Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation, were instrumental in connecting the developers with the community.
Stanton Oaks obtained a LEED for Homes Gold certification. This year it was also awarded the Fulcrum Award from Southface, Atlanta. Stanton Oaks was also recognized in June of this year in Washington, DC by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. Additionally, Stanton Oaks received an Honorable Mention certificate in the HUD Preservation category for this year’s Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards competition.
Speakers at the event included:
- Atlanta City Councilmember Carla Smith, District 1
- Laurel Hart, Director Housing Finance & Development Division, Georgia Department of Community Affairs
- Paul Morris, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.
- Dr. Eloisa Klementich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Invest Atlanta
- Columbus Ward, President of the Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation
- Denis Blackburne, Senior Vice President, The Woda Group, Inc.
More than $12 million have been capitalized to the BAHTF to date. Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.’s fiscal year 2017 budget was approved by Invest Atlanta on September 15, 2016, and includes $2.2 million in additional funding for affordable housing. ABI was also approved to issue bonds which will help raise funds for affordable housing to the tune of $7.5 million.
Learn more about the Atlanta BeltLine’s affordable housing efforts here.
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