Report finds $500 million shortfall in city’s affordable housing goals

However, these “assets do not meet the total resource requirements but offer excellent leverage opportunities – the greater the leverage, the greater the affordability and the greater the likelihood that (Atlanta Housing) will achieve its goals,” the report said.

An expert advisory group that met last year to work with the authority on the report found a “potential” funding gap of about $500 million in capital investment. Additionally, there is a lack of infrastructure to support mixed-use development on vacant and undeveloped land for affordable housing with “a funding gap of approximately $1 million per acre to support infrastructure development,” the nonprofit said.

The agency will leverage its status as a public agency within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Work program to seek funding sources and partners to “address this critical need,” according to the nonprofit.

Atlanta Housing Chief Operating Officer Dwayne Vaughn said officials are addressing the issue.

“Our efforts include challenging our development partners to reduce costs through value engineering and reduce our carbon footprint to qualify for federal infrastructure funding,” he wrote in an emailed statement. The authority “will also explore financing innovations, including using its tenant-based bonds to help finance equity or debt. We remain optimistic that lower interest rates will allow affordable housing developers to maximize debt and equity limits.”

Tyrone Rachal, president of the Urban Land Institute Atlanta, said he hopes the panel’s findings will build on the housing authority’s “robust real estate ecosystem” of private and public partnerships to create and preserve new units.

“The (Urban Land Institute) panel echoed Atlanta Housing’s sentiment that Atlanta needs a multi-pronged approach that transcends traditional financing models and emphasizes both community impact and financial sustainability,” he said in a statement.

While the report says Atlanta is a national leader in implementing a mixed-income real estate development model, it suggests “it is time to refresh this original model and reinvigorate the approach to attract more partners and leveraged investments.”

Some suggestions: prioritize shovel-ready projects, simplify the request for quote process, and extend the deadline for responding to a request for proposals. The association said the 30-day deadline for submitting proposals was too short.

In the meantime, housing authorities should focus on development projects within a half-mile of MARTA stations, making the most of existing infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Program could help secure loans for mixed-income housing developments near transit, the report said.

“Atlanta Housing and its development partners should further explore whether federal or other funds could support Atlanta’s transit hub and station opportunities near their properties,” the report said, adding that the authority could coordinate with MARTA to tap $35 billion in federal funds.

“This funding stream can significantly strengthen mixed-income development near transit stations, aligning (Atlanta Housing’s) goals with the national agenda of promoting both affordable housing and accessible public transportation,” according to the nonprofit.

Terri M. Lee, president and CEO of Atlanta Housing, said in a statement: “Atlanta Housing must be known as an agency that embraces accountability, ownership, transparency and trust in everything we do, and this report is the culmination of an open examination of the inner workings of our agency.”