UrbanizeAtlNewsBot@yall.theatl.social

UrbanizeAtlNewsBot@yall.theatl.social

In south Decatur, 125 affordable rentals bound for old YMCA site Josh Green Fri, 09/13/2024 - 08:18 On a DeKalb County property where people have worked out and worshipped for decades, an affordable housing initiative is set to move forward as a means of helping lift up households struggling to pay rent in one of America’s fastest-growing cities.

Project leaders have scheduled a groundbreaking Saturday morning for a $37-million senior housing venture called Solace Grove on 2nd Avenue in unincorporated Decatur.

The corner lot in question, situated where Second Avenue meets Tilson Road, is the site of a former YMCA that’s more recently served as a place of worship. The property is just north of Interstate 20 and a Walmart Supercenter, about two miles directly south of East Lake Golf Club.

Solace Grove plans call for 125 new affordable housing options total, plus greenspace, walking paths, and raised-bed gardens.

Plans for parking and Solace Grove’s three-story main building, as shown in the lone available rendering. Courtesy of Vecino Group

The 2318 2nd Ave. location in unincorporated Decatur, southeast of Atlanta.Google Maps

The main structure will be a three-story new building with 89 apartments, plus amenities that include a fitness area, community room, computer room, and spaces for arts and crafts.

Elsewhere on site, six single-story triplexes with six units each are in the works. All rentals will have either one or two bedrooms.

The development team includes Missouri-based national developer Vecino Group, healthcare and wellbeing partner UnitedHealth Group, and community partners Gresham Park CDC and First Baptist Church Gresham Road.

All of Solace Grove’s 125 units will be reserved for seniors (ages 62 and older) whose income is at or below 60 percent of the area median income, according to project officials.

Funding the project is a $15 million investment via Low-Income Housing Investment Tax Credits from UnitedHealth Group, plus other tax credit support from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and Dekalb County, per its leadership.

Former YMCA on the 2nd Avenue site in question, at right, in 2022. Google Maps

Elsewhere in metro Atlanta, Vecino Group’s recent projects have included an affordable housing complex in Grove Park built in partnership with Atlanta rapper T.I., along with the $24-million renovation of the Aya Tower, a formerly vacant nine-story building near East Point’s MARTA transit station.

According to company officials, the developer has built more than 3,000 units of affordable housing to date—including 600 units of permanent supportive housing—across a dozen states.

…

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram

• Decatur news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)