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What a big city developer would call “affordable housing” under federal guidelines and what is actually affordable for the average Athenian are two different things – a dichotomy made clear by another planned apartment building just a few blocks away from the Varsity.
Austin, TX-based real estate company Lincoln Ventures is proposing a 340-unit, 400,000-square-foot apartment building on Broad Street on the western edge of downtown, which now houses a dormitory and the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. The developer has committed to setting aside 10% of the units as affordable or contributing to an existing affordable housing program. “We work with local housing authorities by default to bring community benefits to these communities,” said Chris Johnson, Chicago Ventures representative for Lincoln Ventures, at the Athens-Clarke District Planning Commission meeting on July 1.
Johnson said those 34 units would be affordable for people who earn 80% of the median income of about $ 51,000 a year in the Athens area. Affordable one-bedroom units would rent for $ 1,100 per month (a $ 400 discount) and two-bedroom units for $ 1,200 (50% discount). These numbers are based on guidelines from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
However, the Athens region includes more affluent areas such as Oconee County. In ACC alone, the median household income is only $ 38,000. Studies have found that many Athens residents experience “housing stress” – spending more than a third of their income on housing – a situation exacerbated by the proliferation of downtown luxury student residences that Atlanta has brought to a city in of few people earn salary in Atlanta.
Planning Commissioner Kristen Morales (a Flagpole employee) opposed the ongoing trend of building apartments specifically for college students. “Can we just build an apartment building, and if students want to live there, fine? But stop making things that are specifically for students, ”she said. “What happened to just living in the college community and just experiencing the neighborhood as a college student?”
The relief of the neighborhoods near the campus was one reason for the decision by ACC 20 years ago to drastically increase the permitted density in the city center. But it doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on home prices in the city as the neighborhoods from Normaltown to Nellie B continue to dissolve.
“Student housing and affordable housing do not go together. It just comes from living and working here all my life trying to find an apartment in Athens that I can’t find because it’s only student accommodation, ”said Taylor Pass, a native of Black East Athens , the new in a historically virtual completely white board. “Everything that goes up is a dormitory. We need something here for the residents. “
Although the Athens-Clarke district does not yet have an inclusive zoning policy that requires affordable housing, the district commissioners have recently been more positive about developments that include affordable housing.
Equity issues also emerged. Lincoln Ventures’ proposed development will have a separate access point in the same building known as the “poor door” in New York City with an inclusive zoning, said vice chairman of the planning committee Matthew Hall.
“This is a non-runner, a total non-runner,” said Lucy Rowland, longtime member of the planning committee. “I can’t imagine anyone coming up with something like that.”
Families “may not prefer to live the student lifestyle with people coming home from bars at 3am and slamming doors and stuff. Maybe they prefer that separation, ”said Johnson. But he added that he was open to change based on more input.
The property – bounded by West Broad Street, Finley Street, Reese Street and Newton Street – is on the edge of the zoning district in downtown. “I think the site is horribly idle right now, and I think this is the direction Broad Street is and must be headed,” said Hall, who also raised some concerns about the specifics of the design, such as a suggestion that would take the place ACC not met kickback requirements.
Rowland said she heard people talking about downtown, which extends all the way to Alps Road, decades ago. “I thought it was crazy. I’m not sure if it was crazy anymore, ”she said. “We have to be realistic. It’s no longer a nine block downtown. It’s a much bigger world. “
ACC code requires commercial space on the ground floor of downtown developments. Lincoln Ventures’ proposal includes some with West Broad views, but no others. Hall said that with the inevitable development of the Bottleworks parking lot, Newton Street is tending to become commercial. However, rents got out of hand, he said. “We need more good restaurant space and other downtown spaces for local businesses,” said Hall. But there are no subsidies planned for local businesses or available from ACC through programs like tax breaks, Johnson replied.
The planning commission only commented on the development, which will come back to the mayor and commission at a later point in time for a formal recommendation.
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