ATL Standard

City of Atlanta issued the following announcement on Dec. 16. 

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the selection of a development team for the City-owned site at 104 Trinity Avenue, SW—further advancing the One Atlanta: Housing Affordability Action Plan.

The selected proposal envisions a mixed-use development with 218 residential units—186 of which will be designated for affordable housing. The Board of Invest Atlanta approved the selection today after a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

“104 Trinity will provide a new model for how we leverage vacant public land to deliver affordable housing and opportunities for local small businesses,” said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “This is a concept we can replicate across Atlanta to ensure our untapped public assets reach their fullest potential and meet the needs of the community.”

The selected proposal—submitted by a development team composed of the Vecino Group Southeast and Capitol Hill Neighborhood Development Corporation—will replace a vacant, underutilized public property with eight stories of residential and commercial uses. The project promises to activate a highly visible piece of South Downtown’s urban fabric while adding much-needed affordable housing and essential services within walking distance of three MARTA rail stations.

Affordability for commercial tenants is another key objective on the site. The project will include an emphasis on occupying the project’s 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail with small, local businesses that provide essential services and lifestyle amenities. The proposed project also includes exceptional features for sustainability and urban climate resilience. In addition to a rooftop urban garden, the project calls for the largest rooftop solar array ever installed on a multifamily building in the state of Georgia, decreasing common-area energy use by an estimated 30% and reducing residents’ utility bills.

A 99-year ground lease will allow the development team to achieve deeper, longer-term affordability for residents and local businesses by saving millions of dollars otherwise spent on land acquisition in a traditional property sale. At the same time, the property will remain in public ownership under the long-term stewardship of Invest Atlanta.

“This is an exciting project to see get underway because not only is it adding to our goal of creating 20,000 affordable housing units by 2026, but we are also doing so by activating underutilized public-owned land,” said Dr. Eloisa Klementich, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta. “Being able to employ another tool like this gives us greater influence on the way land is used so we can maximize the number and types of affordable living options available to Atlanta residents and families.”  

“This is an important step toward advancing the vision laid out in both Atlanta City Design and Atlanta City Design: Housing, which call for equitable, sustainable growth that utilizes public property in creative and innovative ways,” said Tim Keane, Planning Commissioner for the City of Atlanta. “Densifying key growth areas like South Downtown, with its unique accessibility to transit and good-paying jobs, is critical to making our city more resilient to climate change while also enhancing quality of life for all Atlantans.”

Once a Master Development Agreement is negotiated between Invest Atlanta and the development team—which is anticipated to be finalized in May of 2022—the project timeline estimates completion of construction in September of 2025 and full occupancy by September of 2026.

Original source can be found here.