Latest affordable housing effort near Beltline’s Westside Trail is ready to roll

The Atlanta Beltline is adding another notch to its affordable housing belt, beginning this month.

On Monday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, likely holding a silver- or gold-plated shovel, will lead a groundbreaking ceremony for 91 units of senior living in Southwest Atlanta.

Set to rise in the 800 block of Adair Park’s Murphy Avenue, “Adair Court” is expected to reserve 85 percent of its homes as affordable housing, aimed at lower-income Atlantans.

That’s 77 new units, all a few blocks from the Westside Trail and the West End MARTA Station, according to Invest Atlanta. Details about potential rents weren’t provided.

The $15 million project, under development by Woda Cooper Companies and Parallel Housing, was partially propelled by a $500,000 loan from Invest Atlanta’s Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Bottoms, as well as Beltline and development leaders, will be accompanied Monday by City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, who represents Adair Park and nearby neighborhoods.

Sheperd has been fighting to keep longtime Atlantans in her district planted at home, while development continues to sprout on all sides of the Beltline.

Calling developers “carpetbaggers,” she recently urged her constituents of advanced ages to refrain from selling homes, so they can stick around to see their home turf revitalized.

Luckily for area seniors, Adair Court is not the only affordable housing initiative helping people find cheap(er) places to live near the Westside Trail.

A couple of miles north, in Vine City, another complex chockfull of affordable senior living is under construction. The $20 million “Legacy at Vine City” project is expected to deliver 105 affordable units.

Elsewhere in Adair Park, a century-old schoolhouse has become the subject a major redevelopment, which by next spring should become the birthplace of Atlanta’s “art-force housing” efforts, officials say.

Called “The Academy Lofts Adair Park,” the complex is expected to be a haven for starving artists who need an affordable place to crash and create.

• Latest batch of Atlanta Beltline affordable housing announced for Adair Park [Curbed]
• Atlanta councilwoman likens developers to ‘carpetbaggers,’ urgest seniors to not sell [Curbed]
• In Adair Park, a rescued Atlanta school and the birth of affordable ‘art-force housing’ [Curbed]