Councilmember Andre Dickents recently led a special citywide conversation to discuss efforts to expand affordable housing around the Atlanta BeltLine.

At the Families First headquarters, Councilmember Dickens delivered a special presentation on proposed legislation that would introduce affordable workforce housing to the Atlanta Zoning Ordinance in the Atlanta BeltLine Overlay District. If the policy is implemented, any new rental housing developments with more than 10 units would be required to set aside a percentage of units for affordable workforce housing. Attendees at the October 12 event were able to learn more about this approach to create more opportunities for Atlanta to live affordably on the Atlanta BeltLine.

Inclusionary zoning policy is not new to the City of Atlanta. Last year, Mayor Reed, Councilmember Dickens, and Invest Atlanta passed a new affordable housing policy last year that requires any developer receiving an incentive to either set aside 15% of total residential units for households earning 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) or 10% of units for households earning 60% AMI or below.

Since 2016, the City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta, and our partners have allocated nearly $140 million to impact affordable housing and homelessness in our city, including $12 million from the Atlanta BeltLine Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $3.2 million from the BeltLine TAD. Additional funding was allocated through Invest Atlanta and the Atlanta Housing Authority ($60 million), Homeless Opportunity Bonds ($26 million + an additional $25 million from philanthropic sources), and Housing Opportunity Bonds ($40 million).