Atlanta Housing’s new plan to redevelop the former Bowen Homes public housing site will create something from nothing, bringing 2,000 new residences to 74 vacant acres on the Westside that have sprouted nothing but weeds since the complex was razed in 2009.
But that doesn’t mean the redevelopment project won’t pose challenges for the surrounding community. As the long-dormant property starts to deliver mixed-income housing over the next few years, Westside neighborhoods will feel the same impact that massive investments along the Beltline and elsewhere have made across the city, raising property values and, subsequently, the cost of living.
AH tapped the joint venture of The Benoit Group and McCormack Baron Salazar to spearhead the city-owned site’s rebirth last year, and construction is expected to begin in 2024.
Westside Future Fund CEO John Ahmann told Atlanta Civic Circle that it will be crucial for the housing authority and its development team to pay close attention to the types of housing they build to temper the gentrifying effects the project could have.
The Bowen Homes redevelopment won’t directly displace anyone, he said, “but what is also true is that as investment increases in that area, all the land holdings around there become more valuable.”
What might that mean? “Landlords may think about charging higher rents,” Ahmann said. “[The project] has a ripple effect.”
Of the 2,000 housing units planned for the site—mostly rentals—825 will be priced as affordable for households earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI), or $77,120 for a family of four. The rest will be market rate.
Ahmann said adding that many units for middle- and lower-income Atlantans “unequivocally advances us in terms of having more high-quality affordable units in our city.”
“But there is still a need out there, especially as you go further down on the AMI tree,”…
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