Some 'truly affordable' homes near Beltline aren't selling. What gives?

A townhome project billed as being “truly affordable” has taken shape with prices not seen in most other Beltline-adjacent neighborhoods in a decade. But these residences are hardly flying off the shelf, in most cases. 

Planned to be a 36-unit community eventually, Avenue at Oakland City is located off Murphy Avenue, about four blocks from the Beltline’s Westside Trail. 

Formerly called Tucker Avenue Homes, the for-sale, two-story townhouses have been billed as “truly affordable” and “affordable Beltline living” since the project’s inception nearly six years ago. The Avenue’s broader goal is to push back against gentrification growing pains in Southwest Atlanta. 

According to Zillow, four homes in the 15-unit first phase have sold to date, with prices from $186,000 to $369,000, and two others are under contract. So as walkable Beltline lifestyles go, relative affordability does seem to apply. 

But other Avenue offerings have been on the market for up to eight months. 

Are high interest rates to blame? The project’s unique resale structure, in some cases? Something else?

According to listing agent LaCressa Morrow of Keller Williams Realty Intown Atlanta, eight townhomes deemed affordable are still available, each with two or three bedrooms and between 1,086 and 1,532 square feet. 

The project’s market-rate homes—all three bedroom, three and ½ bathroom options with between 1,532 and 1,676 square feet—start at 399,000. 

Another category, the “permanently affordable” townhomes, range from $210,000 to $296,000. But according to Morrow, buyers must qualify for a conventional loan with a preferred lender, based on 80 percent and 100 percent of the area’s median income. 

Designed by the Xmetrical firm, the Avenue is being developed by Atlanta Land Trust and Intown Builders, with $1.7 million in grant financing contributed by Invest Atlanta. 

ALT officials have said the majority of townhomes—29 of 36 units—will remain permanently affordable through use of the community land trust model. 

That means the trust will own and maintain the land it secured from the real estate market, and when it comes time to move, the homeowner agrees to resell the residence at restricted, affordable pricing to another lower-income buyer, with the price determined by an Atlanta-specific formula, officials have said. 

Some Avenue buyers can qualify for down payment assistance through Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Housing, and Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership. But those buyers must finance through one of ALT’s preferred lenders.

As for location, the Beltline’s Murphy Crossing redevelopment site—where a planned housing and jobs hub called Murphy Crossing by Culdesac recently fell apart—is located just over the MARTA tracks. The Oakland City MARTA station is roughly a half-mile south. (The infill MARTA station announced last year for Murphy Crossing, however, would be much closer, should that come to fruition.) 

Walkability to the Westside Trail and the Lee + White retail district—both about a half-mile away, to the north—is cited as a perk.

Initial community meetings for the townhome project were held back in 2019. 

The project’s broader goal, as ALT officials said when construction kicked off in late 2022, is to help “mitigate gentrification resulting from public investments in the area” by using a “comprehensive, equity-driven approach that connects people, places, and quality of life.” 

Site plans indicate five, two-story residential buildings will eventually rise around a surface parking lot when the Avenue is complete. A similar ALT project called The Trust at Oakland City is under construction a few block away in the same neighborhood. 

In the gallery above, find more context and a closer look at the Avenue today. Morrow noted that open houses are held at the Avenue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday. (More details here.)

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