Fresh images, timeline, details for Beltline mixed-income build emerge

As two key governing board votes draw closer, a clearer picture is emerging of a two-pronged development that would remake Section 8 housing communities along a fresh Atlanta Beltline section, starting next year.

Boston-based developer Wingate Companies—long associated in Atlanta with its property holdings and multifamily projects along Boulevard in Old Fourth Ward—is compiling a redevelopment strategy for the low-rise Trestletree Village housing complexes on opposite sides of the Beltline’s new Southeast Trail. Wingate went under contract in December to purchase both of Trestletree’s Section 8 parcels, totaling 44 buildings. The northern section is in Grant Park, and the southern one in Ormewood Park.

John Tatum, Wingate’s senior vice president of affordable housing, tells Urbanize Atlanta redevelopment plans “are really taking shape” as the developer continues to refine designs and work with current Trestletree residents and other stakeholders. A development timeline, strategy, and fresh interior and exterior renderings for Trestletree help paint the picture.

Wingate’s latest plans are set to go before an NPU-W Land Use and Zoning meeting at 7 p.m. this evening.

Updated plans for facades and amenities at the Trestletree redevelopment's initial phase. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

Example of a kitchen planned in phase one at Trestletree, according to developers. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

Those plans stipulate that phase one will focus on clearing land and erecting an affordable housing building on the south site next to the Beltline that will serve all 188 households currently at the Trestletree communities—with a commitment to deliver that within three years.

Plans call for residents to be moved within the community to vacant units during the affordable building’s construction, with no off-site relocations required, per Wingate.

An onsite survey conducted by the developer in recent weeks—to which 32 households have responded—found that 59 percent of residents consider their apartment and building to be in “poor or very poor” condition, with nearly half of residents contacting maintenance at least monthly, according to Wingate.

The affordable housing building—one of several proposed across both Trestletree sites—would feature two-bedroom, two-bathroom rentals at 950 square feet on average, or about 1/3 larger than current apartments. Each unit would feature its own parking space (188 total), along with visitor parking. One aspect that won’t be financially possible is the private balconies many residents have asked for, according to Wingate’s presentation; it notes that funding would instead be prioritized for the “larger units, a second bathroom in every home, and [an] expanded shared outdoor program.”

Plans for phase-one Trestletree interiors. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

Initial redevelopment plans for the Trestletree Village South/Ormewood Park site, where the first building with all affordable housing units is planned. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

Wingate is seeking a $23-million, tax-exempt bond allocation (previously $25 million) through Invest Atlanta that it says is required to make the affordability component viable. All of its proposed units will rent at rates for tenants earning at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income, according to Tatum.

Three neighborhood boards in recent weeks—the Grant Park Neighborhood Association, SAND (South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development), and the GPNA Land Use and Zoning Committee—have voted to recommend denial of the Invest Atlanta funding. Detractors oppose current site plans because they feel the Trestletree affordable housing units should be spread throughout the community and not concentrated in a single mid-rise building, to avoid isolating an under-resourced group.

Next steps call for NPU-W’s official vote on Aug. 19. That will serve as a recommendation to governing boards at the city level.

Wingate expects to close on the Trestletree property the following day. The developer says Trestletree apartment inspections will begin on day one of ownership, with repair plans put in motion.

On Sept. 17, Invest Atlanta is scheduled to vote on the $23-million, tax-exempt bond issuance proposed for Trestletree.

Securing that funding commitment is a required step before Wingate can apply for Georgia’s 4-percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits later in September, according to Tatum.

The Trestletree community was developed between the early 1940s and 1950s and consists of garden-style, one and two-story residential buildings, totaling about 21 acres. Current rents at Trestletree Village range between $479 and $812 monthly for qualified renters required to pay no more than 30 percent of their income.

Below is the latest outlook on Trestletree's multi-phase redevelopment in coming years, according to Wingate:

Courtesy of Wingate Companies