Affordable Housing

The initial advisory group for Affordable Housing is the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH). They are charged with creating a community‐wide Housing Affordability Investment Strategy. The Housing Affordability Investment Strategy should include, but is not  limited to, transit-oriented development strategies for affordable housing; anti-displacement strategies for gentrifying areas; diversification of housing types; models for mixed-income housing; public-private strategies; and a study of acquisition and/or development opportunities. The Housing Affordability Investment Strategy should build upon existing studies to further identify current gaps (internally and externally); short and long term solutions; community partners and their respectives roles and responsibilities; methods to increase and preserve affordable housing stock; a prioritization of strategies with order-of-magnitude costs estimates; and a data presentation format that is easily digestible.

Relevant History

March 11, 2020COVID-19 Global Pandemic
March 11, 2021American Rescue Plan (ARPA) signed into law
January 6, 2022U.S. Treasury Releases Final Guidance 
March 1, 2022M&C Approve ARPA Pro Forma - $11M for Affordable Housing
May 17, 2022M&C Allocate $1.73M from ARPA Affordable Housing to North Downtown Athens Project (NDAP)
June 7, 2022M&C Approved Concept for ARPA Affordable Housing Phase I – up to $5.7M
August 2, 2022M&C Approve Housing Affordability Investment Strategy Consultant - $160k
September 6, 2022M&C Allocate $4M Placeholder for NDAP Financing
November 15, 2022M&C Make Additional $4M Allocation to NDAP Permanent
December 6, 2022M&C vote to approve $1.25 million to the Athens Justice and Memory Project (AJMP) Affordable Housing Project
December 13, 2022M&C vote to partially fund six Phase I Affordable Housing proposals, for a total of $6.2 million


Funded Projects

  1. Phase I Affordable Housing
  2. North Downtown Athens Redevelopment Project
  3. Athens Justice and Memory Project Affordable Housing Preservation
  4. Affordable Housing Investment Strategy

Generic house icon with stars Opens in new window$6.2 million has been allocated to fund six Phase I Affordable Housing projects

  • New construction of affordable homes for purchase by low to moderate income buyers (2 projects)
  • New construction of affordable homes for rent, paired with programming to assist renters in building their savings
  • Repair and weatherization available to low-income homeowners in certain parts of the county (2 projects)
  • Repair and weatherization of a multifamily property

Additional information about specific projects will become available once contracts have been finalized.