Plans are coming to light for a Westside project that could stand apart from other affordable housing ventures around Atlanta.

The latest concept from nonprofit organization City of Refuge calls for a broad range of uses in a three-story, 37,000-square-foot building that would rise at 1343 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard, claiming what’s currently a large vacant lot.

The site is due south of Westside Park and adjacent to The 345 project—a remake of the abandoned, 1950s Danzig Hotel—that City of Refuge opened last year as 31 units of supportive housing for men.

Development plans call for 25 units of affordable housing. The building, as designed by Rickman Architecture + Design, would also see 7,640 square feet of commercial and amenity space at the ground level.

Blueprints show a social club, market, clinic, and even a credit union included at the building’s base level.

Earlier plans for the three-level project's unique facade, which have been revised. City of Refuge; Rickman Architecture + Design

Base-level breakdown of proposed uses in the Bankhead building, shown with a credit union (green) and clinic (turquoise). City of Refuge

According to Invest Atlanta, the project is expected to cost $15.7 million total.

The bulk of funding would come from donations, including $3 million from the Chick-fil-A Foundation and $2 million from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

Invest Atlanta could also approve $2 million in funding in the form of a BeltLine TAD Increment Improvement Grant.

Apartments would rent from between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income or less. Most would be two-bedroom rentals, though some three-bedroom and one four-bedroom option are in the plans, according to Invest Atlanta.

On the least expensive end, the 13 units planned to rent at 30 percent AMI would go for between $689 for a two-bedroom option (826 square feet) and $796 monthly for three-bedrooms (up to 1,343 square feet).   

Beyond the commercial portion, amenities would include a community room, washer and dryer connections, and an outdoor sitting space.

The 1343 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard site today. Invest Atlanta

The site in relation to Westside Park and Midtown. Google Maps

The project’s 18-month construction schedule calls for breaking ground this year and opening sometime in 2025.  

City of Refuge’s first Atlanta project, a rental community called The 1300, finished in summer 2020. Alongside GROWTH Homes, the agency also recently built five new standalone houses for families adjacent to its Joseph E. Boone Boulevard campus, with prices starting at $279,000.

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