A $750,000 federal grant will help spur affordable housing and other new development in a southwest Atlanta community that has historically been starved of investment. This includes major changes with the Oakland City MARTA station on the South Line.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provided funding to enable MARTA to envision a grand vision for transit-centric development along the Campbellton Road bus rapid transit corridor, scheduled for completion in 2028.
MARTA last year completed an ambitious master plan for redevelopment around the corridor, and the FTA grant gives regional transit authorities “an opportunity to address food insecurity, affordable housing, and unprotected economic development.” By identifying the plan, you will be empowered to advance the ideas outlined in the plan. , education, green space, stormwater management, transportation accessibility and more,” the press release said.
MARTA plans to use the FTA grant in part to find ways to develop key elements of its vision: 12 acres of vacant land it owns next to the Oakland City train station, which includes a church and several townhouses, and a number of adjacent single-family homes.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from the community that they don’t just want another housing project,” said Jacob Varro, MARTA’s deputy general manager of real estate development and asset management. Yes, our neighbors want and need affordable housing. But they also want food options, green space, education initiatives and economic development programs that support new businesses and jobs across the corridor, he said.
The goal is to build mixed-income housing within a high-density mixed-use development with businesses, parks and food providers (possibly including a grocery store), Vallo said.
It’s too early to say how MARTA and its private development partners will implement that mixed-use density, but it will likely include market-rate housing and rental units priced for low- and moderate-income residents. Deaf, Valo said.
FTA grants also help MARTA determine how to partner with private investors to finance development. For example, providing affordable housing may require federal and state low-income housing tax credits or the Atlanta Housing Rent Subsidy.
The addition of dense development to the Campbellton Road corridor should also increase ridership on MARTA buses and trains in the area, Vallo said.
Currently, MARTA only owns 12 acres of land near Oakland City Station along the proposed bus rapid transit route, but it owns only 12 acres of land near the Oakland City Station along the proposed bus rapid transit route, but it owns the state-owned Barge Road Park &・I also have the right to use the ride. BRT line.
Although the FTA grant is for three years, Vallo said he doesn’t think it will take that long to complete the corridor planning work.
At this point, it is unclear whether the new bus rapid transit line or the transit-oriented development will be built first. “But they are not dependent on each other,” he said. “We’re trying to provide density as quickly as possible.”
“MARTA is focused on delivering transit-oriented development before, during and after transportation investments are made in communities and corridors,” Vallo added.
MARTA has broken ground on two other transit developments in the past six months at Avondale and Kensington stations. Both are near the end of MARTA’s Eastern Line in DeKalb County. The companies plan to deliver more than 300 new affordable homes, primarily for seniors.
Transit-centered development plays a key role in Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ mission to create and preserve 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030, said Joshua, the mayor’s chief housing advisor. Humphries said in an interview.
“Our goal, really from the beginning, has been to create high-quality, affordable housing, and transportation access is fundamental to that,” he said. “Expanding access” [to transit] What is important is where it is underutilized. ”
This article was updated on April 15, 2024 at 5:06 p.m. The 12-acre MARTA-owned property is part of a broader transit-oriented development vision, but the federal government’s commitment to the Campbellton Road corridor We made it clear that this was not the main purpose of the funding.
