Image via Wikipedia.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms today announced the city will be investing $60 million in new affordable housing projects. These funds are expected to create and preserve more than 2,000 affordable units across the city.

“This is a prime example of what can happen when government, the private sector, and our nonprofit partners join together for the common good,” Mayor Bottoms said in a statement. “Today represents the new era of cooperation among our public and private partners that will help Atlanta remain a place where working families, and residents at all income levels, can afford to live and build their dreams as we become One Atlanta.”

The new funds were approved by Atlanta Housing Board of Commissioners on Wednesday evening, and are made possible through partnership with Atlanta Housing and Invest Atlanta, according to city materials. The money will be used to build new units, preserve existing units, and kickstart community revitalization efforts.

Bottoms has pledged to invest $1 billion in housing affordability with the goal of producing and preserving 20,000 affordable units by 2026, according to city materials. With this new funding, the city has reached 20 percent of this goal.

Specifically, city materials indicate the funding will be used for several new and ongoing housing projects including:

• Multifamily Gap Financing which will support the new construction and acquisition or rehabilitation of multifamily properties for long-term affordability.
• Small Urban Infill Financing, which will fund small multifamily properties of less than 100 units and single-family infill development with mixed-income affordability.
• A $10 million allocation to the Heritage Owner-Occupied Rehab Program – a joint effort from partners including Invest Atlanta, the city government, the Atlanta Housing Authority, Choice Atlanta, Synergy Real Estate and several other organizations to help lower-income residents remain in their homes and avoid displacement.

“This new funding is the result of true inter-agency collaboration,” Atlanta’s Chief Housing Officer Terri Lee said in a statement. “By creating new affordable housing mechanisms and having a laser-like focus in identifying funding opportunities, we can continue to help make Atlanta a city that everyone can call home.”