At Amsterdam Walk, 'deeper affordable housing' piece moves forward

Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, is expected to approve millions today in financing to help bring affordable housing to fruition at the controversial, Beltline-adjacent Amsterdam Walk redevelopment.

Details of the funding arrangement help paint a picture of what the least expensive rents will cost—eventually—at phase one of the Portman Holdings-led warehouse district redo, wedged between Piedmont Park and upscale eastside neighborhoods.

According to an Invest Atlanta Tax Allocation District and Policy Review Committee meeting agenda for today, the board is expected to approve $2 million in Beltline TAD increment financing for a phase-one multifamily component at Amsterdam Walk.

That housing piece would see 135 units reserved for tenants earning between 50 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income or less, according to Invest Atlanta.

On the cheaper end of the spectrum, that means phase-one Amsterdam Walk rents would start at $1,000 monthly for a studio unit (415 square feet) and range up to $1,485 for one of four three-bedroom apartments (1,100 square feet).

At 80 percent AMI, meanwhile, rents would start at $1,600 for the studios and climb from there.

How the Amsterdam Walk project would look when approaching from the Beltline's Northeast Trail. SOM architects/Portman Holdings

The Invest Atlanta recap indicates Portman is partnering on the affordable units with Mercy Housing, a nonprofit developer most recently behind supportive housing project Thrive Sweet Auburn and another workforce housing venture, Clairmont Family, in Chamblee.

Invest Atlanta’s project recap indicates the $53-million residential component would take two years to build and would open sometime in 2028, with amenities that include a playground, picnic pavilion, business center, and laundry.

Commercial space would be situated on the development’s ground floor.

Additional funding is expected to be sourced from Georgia Department of Community Affairs tax credits and federal and state Low Income Housing Tax Credits via Truist, among other sources, per Invest Atlanta.

The planned affordable housing breakdown at Amsterdam Walk's initial phase along the Beltline's Northeast Trail. Invest Atlanta

What Amsterdam Walk’s initial phase might entail beyond the 135 housing units, and when that might break ground, isn’t yet clear.

Mike Greene, Portman’s senior vice president of development, said the Invest Atlanta funding items apply to the “deeper affordable housing part” of the 11-acre Amsterdam Walk development, and that details beyond that won’t be available until early 2026, at the earliest.

Portman’s scaled-back Amsterdam Walk plans—a source of spirited debate for two and ½ years—scored Atlanta City Council eight-to-six approval in April. That came despite a naysaying yard-sign campaign, an online petition, Neighborhood Planning Unit F’s disdain, and a last-ditch neighborhood board letter calling for the project’s rejection.

The project's original scale (outlined) and another version that was also eventually scaled back in Virginia-Highland. SOM architects/Portman Holdings

Approved scale for the 11-acre, Beltline-adjacent development. SOM architects/Portman Holdings

Neighbors in favor of blocking Portman’s plans argued the lone artery in and out of Amsterdam Walk, Monroe Drive, is already unsafe and impassable with traffic clogs at certain times of day.

Adding a “landlocked” project with 1,435 parking spaces—and an estimated 13 percent bump in daily car trips—would exacerbate the problem and impact quality of life, as the petition asserted.

Nonetheless, the city council’s decision cleared the way for Portman—a veteran Atlanta developer that’s helped reshape the city’s skyline and another section of Beltline-adjacent land with Junction Krog District—to start an Amsterdam Walk design process calling for up to 1,100 apartments.

Also included in the 1.2-million-square-foot development will be public plazas and about 150,000 square feet of commercial and retail spaces.

Somewhere between 220 and 240 of the apartments will be reserved as rentals below market rate, while about 19,000 square feet of retail will see a 30-percent discount for tenants at ground level, developers have said.

The multifaceted Amsterdam Walk proposal as of last year, following a revision process that subtracted height. SOM architects/Portman Holdings