Mayor Kasim Reed Announces Unanimous Vote of Atlanta Housing Authority Board to Approve Land Transfer in APS-BeltLine Agreement

ATLANTA – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Kasim Reed announced today that the Atlanta Housing Authority’s (AHA) Board of Commissioners has voted unanimously to approve an amendment to its Fiscal Year 2016 Moving to Work Plan. The amendment authorizes the transfer of land from AHA to the City of Atlanta, which will enable the City to deliver a tract of land to the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) under the terms of the recent agreement concerning the Atlanta BeltLine. The agreement requires the transfer of a parcel of land from the City of Atlanta to APS.

“When I joined Chairman English, the Atlanta Board of Education and members of the Atlanta City Council to announce the agreement to fund the Atlanta BeltLine, I pledged to move swiftly and decisively to finalize the agreement and execute its terms,” said Mayor Reed. “With the Atlanta Housing Authority Board’s vote, we are moving forward with an essential component of the agreement.”

The amendment to the FY16 Moving to Work Plan calls for AHA to transfer approximately 10 acres of the northern portion of the vacant site of the former Bankhead Courts public housing community to the City of Atlanta.

“I am pleased by the Board of Commissioners’ unanimous vote to approve the land transfer from the Atlanta Housing Authority to the City of Atlanta,” said Daniel Halpern, Chairman of the AHA Board. “As a Board, we are proud of our role in executing the agreement to fund the BeltLine while also supporting the financial stability of our schools.”

The Atlanta Housing Authority is a Moving to Work (MTW) agency, which is a designation provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). MTW allows certain high-performing public housing authorities flexibility in providing quality affordable housing in their localities. Each year AHA is required to submit to HUD an MTW annual plan to describe its activities and plans for the year. Any amendments to the plan must be approved by HUD. AHA has submitted the unanimously approved amendment to HUD.

The Atlanta Board of Education voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the BeltLine TAD Intergovernmental Agreement in a special-called meeting held on Friday, January 29, after Mayor Reed and Chairman Courtney English announced the agreement. On Monday, February 1, the Atlanta City Council passed legislation sponsored by Councilmembers Kwanza Hall, Andre Dickens and Alex Wan by a vote of 13-2. The boards of Invest Atlanta and the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. also met on February 1 and each approved the agreement with unanimous votes.

APS receives more than fifty cents of every dollar of property taxes paid in the City of Atlanta. The Atlanta BeltLine has been one of the primary and largest drivers of increasing property tax values in the City of Atlanta in the last decade, and with approximately $400 million in public investment, has driven $3 billion in private investment. As the Atlanta BeltLine increases property values and boosts the tax digest, APS benefits from increased revenues.

The Eastside Trail, completed in 2012, sees more than one million visitors each year, and has contributed to the economic and cultural resurgence of its surrounding neighborhoods. The $43 million Southwest Trail is currently under construction, and represents the single-largest expansion of the Atlanta BeltLine in its history. Once complete, the Atlanta BeltLine will connect 45 neighborhoods and 22 schools and learning institutions across the city.

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For more information about the City of Atlanta, please visit http://www.atlantaga.gov or watch City Channel 26. Follow the City of Atlanta on Facebook and Twitter @CityofAtlanta. Follow Mayor Reed on Facebook and Twitter@Kasim Reed

Jenna Garland, Press Secretary
404-330-6612, office
404-357-5579, cell

Anne Torres, Director
404-330-6423, office
404-904-2618, cell