Tag: Decatur Housing Authority

Large Downtown Decatur Greenspace To Become Park and School

From the City of Decatur just minutes ago…

On May 9, 2017, the Board of Education of City Schools of Decatur voted to purchase property at the corner of Commerce Drive and West Trinity Place from the Housing Authority of the City of Decatur for future expansion by the school system. The City of Decatur worked closely with City Schools of Decatur and the Decatur Housing Authority during negotiations to assure that a portion of the site would serve as an open greenspace park for community use.

Mayor Patti Garrett said, “This property offers an opportunity for shared park and green space in partnership with CSD that will be similar to shared spaces in Winnona Park and Westchester and at City facilities such as McKoy and Oakhurst Park. We are grateful for the support of CSD and the Decatur Housing Authority in finding a way to protect a portion of this site for community use.”

The City of Decatur will coordinate with CSD to provide basic amenities such as benches, picnic tables and trash cans but the space will remain primarily an unprogrammed passive open greenspace available for community use until CSD is ready to move forward with construction of a new building. The City of Decatur will work closely with CSD in the future as they develop an overall plan for the property that includes shared open greenspace on the site. Commissioner Tony Powers added that “we appreciate everything that CSD and the Decatur Housing Authority have done to move this agreement forward and are excited that there is neighborhood access to the site.”

The release from CSD (below) indicates that CSD intends to build an Early Childhood Learning Center on the property if College Heights is needed as an elementary school.  Decaturish is reporting from the School Board meeting this evening, where the Board is deciding between two scenarios (in short, make elementary schools K-2 with less redistricting or keep as K-3 with more redistricting) to expand capacity within the growing school system.

City Schools of Decatur (CSD) and Decatur Housing Authority (DHA) are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached on the purchase and sale of DHA’s property between Commerce Drive and Electric Avenue, south of Trinity Place, and north of DHA’s Allen Wilson and Oliver House properties. CSD is purchasing this 2.88-acre property from DHA for $4.4 million. The CSD Board of Education and DHA Board of Commissioners have approved the attached purchase agreement, and the CSD Board has passed the attached resolution. Pending approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the purchase will close in approximately three to six months.

 

We are excited about the potential that this property offers to the community. CSD intends to use the property for an early childhood center if College Heights is needed as an elementary school. This use will assist CSD in returning to one of the core purposes of our early childhood program–preparing economically disadvantaged students for a successful experience in kindergarten and beyond. Additionally, we recognize the need for green space in the vicinity of downtown Decatur and look forward to working with the City to develop outdoor space that can serve the needs of the school during the school day and the needs of the community outside school hours. Until the property is needed for a building, CSD will work with the City to provide basic park amenities, such as benches, picnic tables, and trash cans, so the community can begin using the space immediately.

As student enrollment continues to grow, the CSD Board of Education and staff continue to seek out land to proactively plan for future buildings and additions to existing buildings. In the last year, the Board has purchased land at Talley Street, houses adjacent to College Heights and Westchester, and the Board is still in discussion with Columbia Ventures and DeKalb County about land at the Avondale MARTA site.

CSD and DHA have a long history of partnering to serve the best interests of our shared stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing such partnerships into the future. The economic, racial, and cultural diversity that DHA brings to the community is part of what makes the school district great. DHA plans to utilize the proceeds from the sale of this property to invest and support DHA’s affordable housing efforts in Decatur, including the potential revitalization of the Swanton Heights community in the future.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

Continue reading “Large Downtown Decatur Greenspace To Become Park and School”

ESPN Game Day Filming in Decatur Today

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A note on The Decatur Minute this morning stated that there would be filming at Ebster Rec Center and across the street at the Decatur Housing Authority.  Here’s the note…

The City of Decatur has issued a film permit to Shadowlight Pictures for a television project today.  The project will film at Ebster Recreation Center as well as on the Decatur Housing Authority property at the corner of Trinity and Electric Avenue.  Decatur police will be present at both locations.  We do anticipate intermittent traffic control for about twenty minutes in the afternoon. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

We followed up with the city’s Katie Abel for details and she told us that ESPN Game Day is shooting promotional footage.  She added “It looks pretty cool over there”.

Photo courtesy of Be Active Decatur

Trinity Walk Construction Getting Underway

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Chadwick sent in this photo from the Decatur Housing Authority’s Gateway Apartments showing that construction fencing has gone up around the site in preparation of demolition and redevelopment as “Trinity Walk”.

An item on the Decatur City Commission’s agenda last Monday regarding the application for tax credits for Phase II of the redevelopment noted that Phase I development was “currently underway”.

Phase I includes building 69 affordable housing units. Phase II will add an additional 52 units. You can see from the site plan below (from this Dec 2014 solicitation document), Phase I will take place at the back of the site, while Phase II will be built closer to the MARTA rail line and West Trinity Place.

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Phase I was awarded tax credits back in January.

School Board Grants Courtesy Tuition To Gateway Residents

The AJC and Decaturish report that the city Schools of Decatur has come to an agreement with the Decatur Housing Authority that will provide between 20-30 Gateway Manor students with courtesy tuition and transportation costs while their homes at Gateway Manor are renovated over the next year and a half.

The school board approved the agreement on Tuesday night.

DHA Prepares to Demolish Final Two Story Allen Wilson Terrace Buildings, Sell Land To Fund New Housing

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You may have noticed the fencing around the final set of 2-story Allen Wilson Terrace buildings along Commerce Drive and West Trinity Place.

Decatur Planning Director Amanda Thompson confirms that the Decatur Housing Authority will demolish these units.  City Manager Peggy Merriss says the demolition will occur after Phase III occupancy along Electric Ave is completed and noted that after the demolition “the DHA will market the land as a private housing development opportunity”.

This is in-line with the previous published plans for the development, which noted the eventual demolition of these final older units and “developing market rate housing along that side of the site”.  With the occupancy of Phase III, the DHA has replaced the original 288 units at Allen Wilson Terrace on a smaller parcel of land, and notes on its website,  “An important part of that [plan] is the use of approximately one-third of the site, the north end, for a potential condo development of approximately 150 units, some of which would be life cycle units.  The proceeds from the sale of this land will help fund the building of the new public housing units.”

Gateway Manor Rezoning Request Details Redevelopment Plans

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As mentioned briefly in an earlier post, at Tuesday’s meeting, the Decatur City Commission will consider the Decatur Housing Authority’s request to rezone the Gateway Manor Apartments from RM-60 Multiple Family Residential to MU-Mixed Use.  The Planning Commission has already approved the request.

According to the “project narrative” in the application, “The Housing Authority of the City of Decatur intends to redevelop the property and add residential units to the site. The increase in density is necessary to accommodate replacement residences for senior residents that are currently located on another property. This increase in density will make it economically feasible to redevelop the housing on this site. The current zoning for the site, RM-60, does not allow for any variances of any sort.”

The site plan states a planned building height of three story residential buildings and the demolition of existing structures located in the 25′ stream buffer and the “restoration of the stream bank, drainage improvements, and a new pavilion and pedestrian pathway within the 75′ City required buffer.”

(It’s hard to make out the building locations in the site plan above, but there are faint dotted lines if you look closely in the PDF.)

You may recall a conversation a few years back about extending Fairview Avenue through this site and better connect it with downtown Decatur.  This is not included in this plan.

Tree Ordinance Topics Dominate Agenda of Tuesday Decatur Commission Meeting and Work Session

The agenda for this Tuesday’s Decatur City Commission meeting is now posted on the city’s website and includes a few items related to the much discussed tree ordinance.

  1. A 6pm Work Session of the “Tree Canopy Conservation Ordinance”
  2. Action Item to vote on the Tree Ordinance
  3. Action Item that amends the “the Pay and Classification plan to establish the class of Landscape Infrastructure Coordinator.”

As of Monday morning, the city’s Open City Hall showed the following breakdown of “on forum” support/opposition to the question “Do you support the adoption of the tree canopy ordinance?”…

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Also on the Commission’s agenda for tomorrow night’s 7:30p meeting…

  • Vote on changing the land use designation request from the Decatur Housing Authority of the Gateway Manor Apartments at 421 West Trinity Place from Medium Density Residential to Mixed Use
  • “…approval of a residential use in a commercial zoning district and exceptions from the Special Pedestrian Area and HDSF regulations for the property at 506 East Howard Avenue”.
  • A $365,000 change order for Beacon Hill to purchase and install audio visual equipment.  Funds are available in the project budget, according to a note from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon.