By David Pendered Dec. 16 – Georgia is to help build 140 units of rural workforce housing with money paid by tobacco companies to offset the state’s cost of smoking-related illnesses. The purpose of the funding is to promote economic development outside Georgia’s big cities. For employers, affordable housing has become as important a commodity […]
Affordable Housing
A cautionary note re: YIMBY ActionAn Open letter to Atlanta Civic Leaders: A Cautionary Note about YIMBY Action to Those Following Atlanta’s Comprehensive Development Plan and Zoning Updates By Mike Dobbins June 5 – Many of us get notes from YIMBY Action, probably multiples. I go to some of their meetings, most recently a Zoom that summed up their YIMBYtown […]
Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing? Affordable for Whom? What will it take?By Mike Dobbins, Professor of Practice, Georgia Tech Jan. 25 – Below, in bullet form, is a comprehensive outline of the housing affordability problem, aimed at deepening understanding of its larger contexts for the purpose of making affordability happen. Contents Brief background What is housing affordability? Housing development is complex Why Has Housing Become Unaffordable? Its […]
Affordable Housing
New fed program no remedy for affordabilityBy David Pendered Oct. 22 – More dwellings may be built with funding enabled by a new federal regulation, but there’s no reason to expect any such units built in metro Atlanta to be affordable. The Biden administration has announced a new program that aims to induce construction accessory dwelling units as part of its […]
Affordable Housing
Georgia awards first state grants for affordable housingBy David Pendered Oct. 1 – For the first time, Georgia has awarded state grants to support the development of affordable housing in rural parts of the state. Georgia has awarded a total of $8.37 million to five communities: City of Albany, $923,513; City of Colquitt, $2.4 million; Columbus Consolidated Government, $2.3 million; Douglas Coffee […]
Affordable Housing
Georgia’s new regs to induce equity, inclusive housingBy David Pendered Aug. 26 — Georgia has almost completed the proposed update to its plan for spending in 2024 the state’s allocation of the nation’s largest program to subsidize the building and preservation of affordable housing. The proposed plan appears to refine the housing strategic goals in order to raise the bar on issues […]
Affordable Housing
Despite YIMBY’s claims, upzoning not silver bullet to housing costsBy Mike Dobbins June 25 — In these times, when political, business, and community leaders are bombarded with indignant clamor over often-competing demands, expediency often wins out over knowledge. And, as wryly noted by columnist Bill Torpy in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “truth should not stand in the way of indignation.” Such is the case with […]
Affordable Housing
Ode to Commonsense: Mobility and affordable housingBy Mike Dobbins June 15 – Lower income people, often lacking cars yet more bound to their work locations, suffer greater travel inequities than others. Getting to jobs, shopping, health, education, and other services costs more and takes longer. Shortening the distance and the accessibility both by highway and by transit from home to these […]
Affordable Housing
2 Peachtree tower: A behind-the-scenes look at developers’ questionsBy David Pendered June 13 – The questions developers have asked about Atlanta’s plan to flip the 2 Peachtree office tower into housing shine a light into their thoughts on how the deal might come together. A five-page document lists 52 questions submitted by potential redevelopment partners, along with responses from Invest Atlanta. The city’s […]
Affordable Housing
Private investors want to own more affordable housingBy David Pendered March 21 – Private and institutional investors are planning a big surge of investments in new and existing affordable multifamily housing in states that could include Georgia, according to a report by the New York Fed. “The majority of respondents indicate that they anticipate raising more equity in the next 12-24 months […]
