(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-08)
Thompson, Brock
The affordable housing crisis burdens the nation and America’s largest cities, in particular. In the absence of comprehensive federal action to provide residents adequate housing, local governments (cities and counties) are employing massive general obligation bonds for the purpose of providing residents affordable housing (“municipal housing bonds or MHBs”). From Asheville & Charlotte to Denver, San Francisco, & Portland, governments have pledged hundreds of millions over the last two decades alone to address the issue (see “Other References Not Cited”)1. Direct public provision of housing, site acquisition, gap financing for private development, and owner-occupied rehabs are among the most common uses of funds. To date, cities using housing bonds have taken different approaches to spending with little documentation about the extent to which that approach addresses needs. Some have focused on public housing while others aim to leverage private funding; some have committed
funds mainly to assist the lowest-income households while others look to expand higher-AMI workforce housing (see “Other References Not Cited”). In the context of Atlanta’s proposed $100M 2020 housing bond (Pendered, 2020a), this paper is aimed at developing a spending strategy for City of Atlanta housing bonds. Goals include maximizing the number of households served in the near term and prospects of long-term affordability. This paper looks to reconcile the (1) Current and projected demand for affordable housing units in the City of Atlanta (by AMI and household size), with the (2) Costs required to supply affordable units of various types for each of those groups. A pro forma will model the impact of various housing strategies on the existing and projected housing gap relative to their costs. The spending strategies of other cities will serve as a benchmark.
Affordable housing is one of Atlanta, Georgia’s most pressing, pervasive, and persistent urban planning crises. Additionally, the advent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the preexisting affordable housing issues across housing security, demographics, the supply and demand of affordable housing policy, and the health of low-income housing occupants. This report aims to address these issues, as they currently persist in Atlanta, and offer recommendations and considerations for their solutions. This document consists of four sections: Affordable Housing Finance in the City of Atlanta, Wealth Divide and Housing, Homelessness, Health & Hazards. A case study of Atlanta’s Healthy Hotel Project, and the Nexus of Housing, Transit, and Jobs. This report was created by graduate students in the master’s in City and Regional Planning Program (MCRP) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in collaboration with multiple local stakeholders. Though this report will not solve the affordable housing issue in the city of Atlanta, it will address the current conditions and numerous challenges associated with affordable housing in Atlanta and will offer a pointed recommendation to create a path toward solutions for these wicked problems.