The property at 1138 Harwell. Image via Google Maps.

The Georgia Trust’s West Atlanta Preservation Initiative kicks off tomorrow, marking the beginning of the rehabilitation process of two historically significant properties which will in turn promote affordability and sustainability without displacing longtime residents.

The trust purchased the two houses from the family of Edward Johnson, a World War II flight instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen and the founder of Johnson & Wood Electric. Johnson was the first African American licensed master election in Atlanta, and built the house at 1138 Harwell Street in 1953, according to program materials.

After the rehabilitation project is completed, the properties will be sold to low-to-moderate income families and placed into the Atlanta Land Trust to create permanent affordable housing in the area, program materials indicate. The Atlanta Land Trust helps create permanently affordable housing proximate to the Atlanta Beltline and other targeted areas of development in Atlanta. Preservation easements will be placed on the homes to protect them from demolition or alteration in the future.

The event will be held at the house on Harwell Street in Washington Park at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. Georgia Trust President and CEO Mark C. McDonald will be giving opening remarks and answering questions.