$100 Million to Preserve Transit Oriented Affordable Housing in Atlanta

Two out-of-town investors are sending cash to the owners of affordable housing proximate to Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stations.

"New York investment bank Morgan Stanley and a Chicago housing investor have pledged $100 million to preserve affordable housing near MARTA rail stations," reports Andy Peters in Atlanta.

"The money is limited to properties located within a mile radius of MARTA stations," according to Peters. "Building owners can borrow money to refinance mortgages, buy new properties, make building improvements and take other steps to help preserve their existing supply of affordable units."

The effort to preserve existing affordable housing units will supplement a number of efforts in the city right now to add affordable housing under the banner of the Mayor Keisha Bottom's "One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan, including the "Atlanta City Design: Housing" initiative. The $100 million from Morgan Stanley and the Chicago-based National Equity Fund should not be confused with $100 million in bond funding for affordable housing, half of which was recently ratified by the Atlanta City Council.

According to Peters, MARTA also launched a program in 2019 to provide tax incentives to affordable housing developments near stations in low-income neighborhoods.