Mercy Housing and the Historic District Development Corp. have plans for a 76-unit redevelopment of the Henderson Place apartments in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, with an ordinance to rezone the site going before Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board Thursday evening, the ZRB meeting agenda shows.
The project would replace 58 existing units at 514 Irwin St. and 131 Grape St. that HDDC has owned since 1995. The organization said in application materials that the properties, which were both built in the 1950s, have “irredeemable maintenance liabilities,” leading the nonprofit to make “the difficult decision to pursue the full redevelopment in a way that honors the affordable housing legacy of the site with quality affordable housing much needed in the Martin Luther King, Jr. historic district and in Atlanta.”
Mercy Housing Southeast, a regional office of national affordable housing developer Mercy Housing, will lead the development, which will provide apartments limited to 40 percent, 60 percent, and 80 percent of area median income, plans show.
“HDDC and Mercy Housing SE understand how critically important affordable housing options for low-income households are in the Old Fourth Ward and the Landmark District, now one of intown Atlanta’s priciest neighborhoods,” part of the development team’s project summary reads.
HDDC expects to finance the project through a variety of sources, including federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and a subsidy from Atlanta Housing, it lists in its rezoning application.
The project’s unit mix will feature nine studios, 35 one-bedrooms, 29 two-bedrooms, and three three-bedrooms with sizes of 450, 650, 850, and 1,150 square feet, respectively. Each of the studios will be restricted to 40 percent of AMI, with a net rent (after a utility allowance) of $303. Net rents for the rest will range from $478 to $1,005, $544 to $1,274, and $594 to $1,438, from ones to threes, respectively.
Plans for the development also feature 4,250 square feet of commercial space for a new market, requiring a zoning change from low-density residential R-5 to mixed residential commercial MRC-1.
Now a Community Development Corporation, HDDC was co-founded in 1980 by Ms. Coretta Scott King with the goal of protecting and reinvigorating the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic District. Upon their purchase, the nonprofit’s Irwin and Grape Street properties were named after Ms. Valena Henderson, a participant in the civil rights movement led by Dr. King.
HDDC expects a project completion in February 2023 and for the property to retain its name, according to its rezoning application.
