On July 15, 2025—exactly 75 years after the Atlanta Constitution first announced the opening of the Sylvan Circle Apartments—Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. (ANDP) and its public- and private-sector partners gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Sylvan Hills II, a transformative $52.7 million affordable housing development in Southwest Atlanta.

 

Built on a 10.2-acre site once home to 296 World War II-era apartments, Sylvan Hills II will bring 233 fully affordable apartments and townhomes to a neighborhood in urgent need of housing opportunity. The original Sylvan Circle complex, constructed after the war to serve a growing population, stood as a fixture in the community for decades. ANDP acquired the aging development in 1993, preserving affordability until its demolition in 2010.

 

“For nearly 20 years, ANDP kept the legacy of affordability alive here,” said Ashani O’Mard, ANDP’s Senior Vice President for Strategic Housing Investments. “Though redevelopment was delayed by the Great Recession, we renewed our vision five years ago with the completion of 183 affordable senior homes next door. Today, we break ground on 233 more homes—bringing the total to 416, 40% more than what originally stood on this land.”

 

What distinguishes Sylvan Hills II is not only its scale but its financing. The development was achieved without relying on Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)—a rarity in affordable housing. Instead, eight layers of innovative public and private funding allowed for an accelerated path to financial closing and construction.

 

“Sylvan Hills directly addresses two of our top priorities: increasing affordable housing supply and moving urgently through our real estate pipeline,” said Dr. Alan Ferguson, Sr., Chief Housing and Real Estate Officer for Atlanta Housing, the project’s lead financing partner. “Every one of these 233 homes will be affordable. This is the kind of bold, mission-driven work Atlanta Housing is committed to supporting.”

 

Development partners TCE Development, Radiant Development Partners, and EQ Housing Advisors helped lead the effort, joined by Invest Atlanta, the City of Atlanta, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Partners for H.O.M.E., Reinvestment Fund, and Walker & Dunlop. The Metro Atlanta Land Bank stewarded the site for over 13 years in its Land Banking Depository, ensuring its future use would benefit the community.

 

“This was a complicated transaction, but we got it done because everyone believed in the vision,” said Rod Teachey, Principal of TCE Development. “We’re optimistic that this collaborative approach can serve as a model for future affordable housing development in Atlanta.”

 

“Atlanta is a city that knows how to leverage innovation to create meaningful public-private partnerships,” added Sharon Guest, Principal at Radiant Development Partners. “Through this collaboration, we’re able to deliver 233 units of attainable housing—a development that simply wouldn’t be feasible without this unique financing structure.”

 

“Partnering with visionary groups like Radiant, Atlanta Housing, Invest Atlanta, ANDP, and the Community Foundation shows the transformative power of public-private collaboration,” said Marc Pollack, President and Board Chair of EQ Housing and a former ANDP Board Chair. “Sylvan Hills II brings long-needed affordability to the community and raises the bar for what inclusive development can be.”

 

All 233 units will be income-restricted: 24 reserved for households earning at or below 50% of area median income (AMI), 93 at or below 60% AMI, and the remaining 116 units at or below 80% AMI. The development will offer both townhomes and apartments, sharing outdoor amenities with the adjacent senior building to create a rare intergenerational affordable community.

 

Construction, led by Linden Construction of South Carolina and architect Geheber Lewis Associates, will last approximately 20 months, with first units expected in late 2026.

 

Reflecting on the site’s long history and bright future, O’Mard concluded: “This land once welcomed returning veterans and working families. Seventy-five years later, we’re honored to restore it to service—and to help build a more equitable Atlanta, one home at a time.”