By Paul Bolster
Located on two parcels — one on Ormewood Avenue (the North Campus, in Grant Park) and one on United Avenue (the South Campus, in Ormewood Park) — Trestletree Villages has provided housing for low-income households for more than 40 years. Recently, Trestletree was featured in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on substandard rental property. In March of this year, Wingate Properties asked Invest Atlanta (the city of Atlanta’s economic development authority) for the financial support needed to redevelop the Trestletree properties. The first phase of their planned redevelopment will be one new building on the South Campus, at United Avenue, next to the development known as the Farmhouses at Ormewood and facing the Beltline.
The new building will accommodate all 188 units currently supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 8 voucher program. This contract limits the tenants’ rent to 30% of their household income. The contract expires in 2032 but Wingate has committed to seeking HUD approval for the 20-year extension allowed, and to keep the project affordable for 50 years under the rules of the federal housing tax credit program.
Future phases would include new buildings on both South and North campuses. These phases would meet the Beltline requirements that 10% of the units be affordable at 50% of Area Median Income (AMI). Details of these future phases are subject to future dialogue between the community and the developer, but Wingate did commit to accepting Section 8 Choice vouchers in future phases.
The proposal has been the subject of neighborhood meetings of South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development (SAND), the Grant Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA), and current Trestletree tenants. Following discussions at two SAND monthly meetings, the organization’s leadership negotiated changes in the proposal to which the developer agreed. The changes are incorporated in a Letter of Understanding (LOU) signed by SAND President Mike Gardner and a representative of Wingate Properties. The specific provisions of the LOU are summarized below. The agreement was submitted to the City of Atlanta and Invest Atlanta.
“There was a lot of give and take and the process isn’t finished yet, but we established a good process for any large project affecting our neighborhood that may be coming in the future. The community got 90% of what we asked for,” said SAND President Mike Gardner.
The GPNA did not support the project. According to President Robert Selby, “GPNA membership voted to formally reject Wingate’s revised site plan, affirming that it fails to resolve our core opposition to consolidating 188 legacy Section 8 households into a single building at the rear of the property, hidden behind two future market-rate buildings, rather than integrating them into a true mixed-income housing model. Furthermore, GPNA voted to formally endorse the Trestletree United Tenants Association’s request for a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). The recent LOU between Wingate and SAND does not secure these requirements.”
At a three-hour meeting of Neighborhood Planning Unit W on August 19, interested parties were given a chance to ask questions and make their views known. On a motion of the Land Use and Zoning committee, the body voted 28 – 8 to support the project with the provisions that SAND and Wingate agreed to in the LOU. The body also agreed to support provisions of a Community Benefits Agreement that might be reached in the future between a tenants’ organization and Wingate.
The complete Letter of Understanding can be found at https://urlr.me/Ca2bBa. This is a brief summary highlighting the agreements.
Wingate agreed to:
- Make reasonable, good-faith efforts to engage the residents during the redevelopment.
- Engage SAND during the design process and the application for a Special Administrative Permit.
- Preserve the HUD rent support on all of the current 188 units. Add 20 market-rate units to Phase I. Apply for two 20-year extensions of the rent subsidy and extend it further when possible.
- Have a minimum of 10% of units in future phases reserved for households under 50% AMI.
- Keep the affordability commitment in Phase I for 50 years.
- Implement a 75-foot buffer from the nearby stream and a 75-foott buffer for 95% of the wetland and collaborate with Tapestry Greenspace (which oversees greenspace neighboring the South Campus) on the tree canopy.
- Plan for a “cohesive residential community” for all phases, including green space.
- Accept Housing Choice vouchers at all future phases.
- Keep current Trestletree residents informed about opportunities in future phases.
- Use low-impact development practices and construction safety standards.
- Provide safe pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Beltline and explore a direct connection.
- Provide a minimum of 188 parking spaces for Phase I resident as well as some visitor parking.
- Incorporate reasonable safety and security measures including camera systems.
- Follow Davis/Bacon wage requirements (federal standards for wages on certain federally funded projects).
- Use Design Control Authority (DCA) minimum design standards, including a play space for young children.
- SAND agreed to support the project at the NPU and not to oppose the Phase I application for the Special Administrative Permit.
