Board of County Commissioners Approves Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) to Create Affordable Housing Units
Select Fulton, in partnership with the City of Atlanta, announced that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved the City Views at Rosa Burney Park Acquisition-Preservation Project on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 establishing the “City Views Urban Enterprise Zone.”
“Fulton County’s Urban Enterprise Zone program is an important tool to not only spur economic development, but also enables us to support and maintain affordable housing in Fulton County,” said Chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Robert L. Pitts. “Every investment we make in producing or preserving affordable housing is significant to ensure that our investments are reaching the most vulnerable residents.”
Jonathan Rose Companies, in conjunction with Columbia Residential, its local partner, will invest $49,433,983 to acquire and rehabilitate the City Views at Rosa Burney Park, a 181-unit affordable housing complex. The project consists of a 112-unit tower and 69 units of townhouses, across a mix of one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-bedroom family unit types which 85% of units are currently affordable and subsidized under a HUD project-based rental assistance. This designation of the “City Views Urban Enterprise Zone” will create affordable housing units for families earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income.
“Jonathan Rose Companies, in partnership with Columbia Residential, is thrilled to be able to move forward with this important project that preserves critical affordable and workforce housing in a revitalizing part of town, thus ensuring the community’s long-term participation in economic opportunities.” stated Brandon J. Kearse, Director of Acquisitions at Jonathan Rose Companies. “Critical to the project’s success was the Board’s approval of the UEZ which will enable us to size sufficient loan proceeds to fund the acquisition and renovation of the project, and the enterprise zone will also allow the project to undergo an extensive rehabilitation scope and create new jobs.”
Moreover, this project will also provide new economic opportunities through the creation of approximately forty-five (45) construction jobs throughout the construction period. In addition to the new jobs created, this project will also retain six (6) on-site property management staff positions during and after the rehabilitation process. This staff will include a dedicated Resident Service Coordinator to facilitate on-site social programming.
The renovation is expected to take 16-18 months, with units renovated in rolling phases. The renovation will also provide new community space including a fitness center; a community kitchen and lounge; resident service coordination office; and business center with computers and common area Wi-Fi.
“We are committed as an organization to help bring jobs and opportunities to our residents,” said Samir Abdullahi, Deputy Director for Select Fulton. “That is why we have connected our economic and workforce development services here at Fulton County, to help residents and business alike share in the area’s prosperity.
The Georgia’s Enterprise Zone Employment Act of 1997, enables local jurisdictions to exempt or reduce local ad valorem taxes, occupation taxes, license fees and taxes on qualifying projects that meet at least three of the following five criteria: Pervasive Poverty, Unemployment, General Distress, Underdevelopment and General Blight. The purpose of UEZ’s is to encourage private development and redevelopment in areas of or on sites which otherwise would unlikely be developed due to the existence of certain characteristics of the area or site. A UEZ is a designated district that is located within an economically depressed area, and property owners receive tax abatements over a ten-year period, if certain conditions are met.
The City of Atlanta approved the establishment of the City Views Urban Enterprise Zone on December 11th, 2019. Select Fulton partnered with the City of Atlanta to further the development and creation of affordable housing in the City of Atlanta which ultimately benefit all of Fulton County through its’ dedication to investing in our community.
About Post Author
