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MAY 2007
Georgia Tech GIS study reveals available land
Peachtree: Home for everyone?
SouthStar CDC, partners breathe life into
Moreland Avenue Corridor
STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Audrey Jordan
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Mayor holds town hall
meeting on redevelopment
Will Peachtree Street be home for everyone?
On Saturday, May 5, Mayor Shirley Franklin held a public hearing at
City Hall to welcome public comment on the recommendations issued by
the Peachtree Corridor Task Force to revitalize a 14-mile stretch of
Peachtree from Brookhaven to Fort McPherson including a 2.35 mile
downtown loop. ANDP joined approximately 50 other concerned citizens
and organizations to applaud the work of the Mayor and the Task
Force – and to encourage the inclusion of housing options for all
along Peachtree.
The Task Force is recommending a $1 billion overhaul for Peachtree
with plans for a Corridor-wide streetcar system as its centerpiece.
Funding for the project would come in large part from the creation
of a special tax district encompassing the Corridor and impacting
property owners in its footprint.
The Peachtree Corridor is Atlanta’s employment capital accounting
for more than 150,000 jobs with 63,000 more expected by 2020. 89
percent of employees near and along Peachtree earn less than $40,000
annually according to a Workforce Housing Study commissioned by the
Midtown Alliance, Central Atlanta Progress and the Buckhead Action
Committee. Only 18 percent of Corridor employees live in the City.
The vast majority commute from other locations contributing to
traffic congestion and poor air quality.
The Task Force Report embraces a Peachtree with “a rich blend of
housing types and price points” and a plan that “preserves the good
housing that already exists.” ANDP and other housing advocates
support a Corridor plan that implements this vision for mixed
income, live, work, and play communities along Peachtree’s
neighborhoods.
Mayor Franklin, the Atlanta City Council and the Fulton County
Commission have demonstrated a commitment to affordable housing
through innovative policies like the $75 million Housing Opportunity
Fund and the Beltline’s inclusion of funding for 5,600 affordable
homes and apartments. The Beltline offers a model for allocating
public funding to mitigate escalating rents and home prices that are
a natural consequence of large-scale, economic development projects.
If the Beltline model were adopted for the Peachtree Corridor, more
than $75 million would be available to acquire existing apartments,
provide direct incentives to developers to build mixed income
projects and offer second mortgage assistance to workforce buyers.
Tax relief for affordable housing developments and targeted zoning
incentives are among the other policy tools available to create
housing choice on Peachtree.
More information on the Peachtree Corridor Plan is available at
www.peachtreecorridor.com
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