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. [CORRECTION: 4:48 p.m., Feb. 24: Sales officials send word that listings records aren't an accurate reflection of what has sold in Oakland City to date. Below is an updated site plan with sales data provided today, and more context is provided at the end of this article.] 

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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[UPDATE: 4:48 p.m., Feb. 24: Following publication, listing agent LaCressa Morrow of Keller Williams Realty Intown Atlanta provides the following information and context:] 

“Construction for Avenue at Oakland City is on track to be completed by the mid-March, as they are finishing the last remaining homes. We started delivering homes late March 2024 with the goal to close out the affordable homes within the next month, with only eight remaining now.

Affordable buyers are subject to the same market interest rate as any other buyer and will have access for up to $40,000 in down payment assistance through Invest Atlanta and The Atlanta Housing Authority. Unlike most affordable programs, our buyers are required to use a conventional loan with one of the preferred lenders; most affordable programs allow an FHA loan. 

The community consists of 36 homes total with 29 permanently affordable homes, with only eight affordable homes remaining.  

The real estate market is completely different than when we started marketing these homes, interest rates have increased which does affect the affordability for these homes regardless of the price point. While we are encouraged by our velocity of sales it can still be a challenge for these buyers to qualify for a home. 

Despite the market, we have closed 16 homes (15 affordable, one market-rate two-bedroom), with six affordable under contract, and six market homes just released two weeks ago. The primary focus was the affordable homes as we know affordability in the market is hard to come by in the City of Atlanta.  

While the affordable homes have strict guidelines for qualifications—i,e., buyers must get income qualified by Atlanta Land Trust, qualify for a conventional loan with access to $40,000 in down-payment assistance and attend a homebuying class with the Land Trust—the market homes are open to anyone. Two affordable homes are closing this Friday, the 28th. 

While days on the market can be an indicator of the velocity of sales, this community is a different breed. I release an example of the inventory I have available while selling the rest of the inventory so it is hard to address the accurate days on market.  

You will see in the listing system only four closed despite the fact that 16 have actually closed. Most new construction communities would increase pricing over time, with this community each home is priced the same based on its AMI with a slight difference in pricing from Phase 1 to Phase 2 as AMI increased from 2022 to 2024, which is how we base our pricing.  

The goal was to create a community with multiple income levels that represent the city of Atlanta as a whole. When the project started, the original AMIs were based on 80 and 100 percent only… [project officials] were able to find some funds to allow an income level of 65 percent AMI, which gave us the ability to offer four homes at that AMI, with two-bedroom units priced at $148,000 and three bedrooms at $154,000. Three of those are under contract with one closed.

We host an open house every Saturday from 11-2pm

I only have four homes at 80 percent AMI and four homes at 100 percent AMI remaining: two and three-bedroom units under each AMI.”  

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