Overhaul Planned for Trestletree Village Apartments
City to discuss issuance of $15.6 million issuance of bonds.
Photos
Pdfs
One of the longstanding — and hoped-for — redevelopment rumors in Southeast Atlanta has been an overhaul of Trestletree Village.
The apartment complexes — there's Trestletree North at 794 Ormewood Ave. SE in Grant Park and Trestletree South at 904 Confederate Court SE in Ormewood Park — have long been the ire of the two neighborhoods.
But a Denver-based, multifamily housing developer with a niche in low-income and Section 8 properties, wants to overhaul the 188-unit Trestletree Village properties.
And to do that makeover, Community Housing Concepts Inc., which has properties in Cuthbert, Ga., Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky and a handful of other states, is seeking the city's help.
On Thursday, Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development arm, will meet to discuss the Community Housing Concepts project, and the Urban Residential Finance Authority proposal to issue up to $15.6 million in bonds to put toward it.
The money would be used to offset the total cost that is expected to be associated with the project, which Community Housing Concepts pegs at $22.8 million.
That price tag includes acquisition, setting aside funds for an operating reserve and other expenses.
Construction, which would start sometime next year, would take 12 months to complete.
What will happen to the current residents during the refurbishing is not immediately clear, but the properties are to remain low-income rentals when complete.
Homeowners near the two Trestletree Village complexes have complained they're hotbeds of criminal activity.
Earlier this year, for example, there was a shootout at the Ormewood Park complex — believed to be over a dice game — in which two rival groups shot at each other. A woman ended up being grazed by a bullet.
And the Grant Park neighborhood, in response to that shooting as well other crimes, formed its own neighborhood watch to be more proactive.
Representatives from both neighborhoods, have met with Trestletree Village management over the years, as well as Atlanta City Councilwoman Carla Smith, whose District 1 includes Grant Park and Ormewood Park, to express their concerns.
In fact, Smith held a meeting earlier this year with Maj. Keith Meadows, commander of the Atlanta Police Department's Zone 6 and Trestletree management to discuss how to mitigate neighbors' concerns.
Dara
9:42 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
So same issues, different look?
J Grouchy
11:15 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
Pretty much. I don't see how this sort of "investment" will do anything to help the real problem.
Jarod Apperson
10:03 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
That is a seriously ugly rendering.
Why not make this some decent mixed-income housing? I think the community would be better served if a developer came in with a plan to have some nice town homes mixed in with affordable housing. These apartments sit on fairly large parcels that are appropriate for redevelopment. If these complexes remain 100% low-income, the crime problems will probably persist.
If we're going to spend $15M on this project, I think we need to ask more more from the slumlord.
JS
12:09 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
Mixed income is the way this should go. However, the property is locked in as low income for the next 50 years due to AIMCO's application for Mark to Market Financing, so ... they or any future purchaser can happily continue using this as a cash cow, milking the government for subsidy without lifting a finger to responsibly develop what the area needs - that being mixed-use/mixed-income, right along the Beltline, giving all residents the future ability to travel around the city for employment, shopping, etc.
IMHO, the ideal situation would be teardown of the north property on Eloise which has had a fleet of quality-of-life issues, rebuild it as mixed-income/mixed-use, move everyone from the south to a newly-built north property, then teardown the south property and rebuild in the same fashion. Add density, add diversity, ditch the failed model of cramming poor people in one spot.
It has been proven time and time again that dedicated low-income housing doesn't work. AHA recognized this and has already closed down all of the their public housing projects, and crime appears to have dropped drastically in the surrounding areas where closures occurred. I suppose CoA has their hands tied behind their back right now because the fed can do whatever they please in our city - like allowing these properties to be locked down as low-income housing for the next 50 years - and neither local government nor the citizens of Atlanta can do anything about it?
Seems a bit silly.
J. H.
5:14 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
I live one block from Trestletree and I'm not in favor of this plan at all. Those buildings need to be torn down and mixed income put in it's place. Otherwise it will still be the same problems. Make your voices known about this people. Contact our councilman, mayors office and go to the neighborhood meetings.
Ormewood Park Mom
11:58 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
It will look like the current Trestletree in 3 years. That's the problem with putting lipstick on a pig... How about taking the $15.6 Million and really trying to help the people of Trestletree with some incentives to get out of poverty instead of dumping money into a crooked contractor's pocket. This waste of money presented here is immoral.
Jacquelyn Hutchinson
2:26 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The problem will still be there,no matter what..Unless,you correct the problem on the inside.Quite a few people need a lot of help there,and unfornately it is a place for some people who never had anything and some due to the economy(temporary basis)I do believe the apartments need to be torn down,it's a lot of mold some of them,and I have heard parents complain about their kids or them staying sick,and I heard from some,work has never been done or patches of work was done,constant leaks and so on, and litter of trash everywhere....A lot of real work needs to be done,behavior from time to time is not good,too many teenagers from 14 -17,not in school,walking around,not good...
A F
3:40 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
I totally agree with you on this.
Will Dean
4:20 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Lots of us can appreciate the "lipstick on a pig" comment by Ormewood Park Mom. As a homeowner and Grant Park resident who has resided on Confederate Avenue between the sites for almost 8 years now, it is my feeling that both I and my immediate neighbors have seen exactly what these two communities contribute to the neigborhood. If we are going to use public (or any) money to redevelop these sites, we will push for mixed use (not mixed income) applications. Both sites proximity to the Beltline make them ideal for this. So much more can be said about this, but I will save that for our elected officials. In the event that this corporate welfare event does get some traction, both I and my neighbors are going to want to see something substantially more than a cheap facade.
Mark Davis
11:28 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Will Dean is spot-on. The Trestletree complexes present more than a cosmetic challenge for the city and the people who live near them. A truly substantive change would involve mixed-use development as well as creating a living space where people of varied incomes would want to live. As any social scientist can tell you, warehousing poor people does not work. It's an injustice for the people who live in such complexes, as well as the people who live near them. And I should have noted, at the top: I've lived between these complexes for a dozen years. The issues at Trestetree cannot be solved with paint and landscaping.
HannaM
4:35 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Thats a lot of money for what looks like a paint job and little construction...
-just sayin'
H
Jarod Apperson
5:34 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Hanna, I have to agree. Just to give you a sense of how ridiculous this is:
There are 188 units, which means they are planning to spend $121,277 on each unit to do the remodel. A new 23-story apartment building currently being constructed in Midtown, Skyhouse, only cost $187,500 per unit to build from scratch. That's a 23-story building which also includes retail shops and a parking deck.
We could buy every resident of the Trestle Trees 3 renovated homes in the West End for this kind of money.
This awful plan benefits no one but the slumlord and their contractors. They are playing on the fact that these apartments are a thorn in the side of the community and stand to walk away with millions of bonus cash while the community is left with no real improvements.
Tim
12:28 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
Per the above article: "That price tag includes acquisition, setting aside funds for an operating reserve and other expenses."
Jarod Apperson
1:29 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
@Tim. Yeah, the attached document has a breakout of the costs, including a $1.8M Developer's fee.
$800k goes to the operating reserve. With the Skyhouse building budget of $60M, I'm not sure if any operating costs are included, so it may not be a 100% fair comparison. There are other examples with lower per-unit costs. North American Properties is building BoHo for about $125k per unit.
I think the total spending on this project seems ridiculous, but I'm no expert.
Chris F.
9:47 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
You mean the problem of the neighborhood judgement of the people who live in Trestletree? I do agree that will persist.
Most "mixed income" developments include like 10% housing that is affordable for low income individuals and often the rents for the "low income" are still 500-600+ a month with market rate at 900+. While that may seem cheap, it is still not very affordable for someone making minimum wage.
Low income people need to be able to live in "nice" neighborhoods like ours.
Bourgeois Bob
12:14 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Hey, let's do what the Atlanta Housing Authority did and just tear these buildings down and put 'mixed-income' (read: middle class) housing in their place. Then we kill two birds with one stone:
1. Remove this terrible blemish from our otherwise immaculate middle-class neighborhood
2. Send the poor folks somewhere else so they become someone else's problem
That sounds like a much better plan to me...look how well it worked in other parts of the city. Now all the poor folks have to live in the suburbs where they can't access public transportation to come back to the city and bring down our property values! Hoorah!
ATLGal
8:25 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Today we on the Invest Atlanta Board moved this project forward with a unanimous vote of support. I was personally pleased at the collaberative work on the part of all parties to put together a redvelopment plan and community agreement that will address all of the significant concerns of the neighborhood and improve the safety and quality of life for residents. -Anna Foote, APAB Rep to the Invest Atlanta Board
Bsn5512
4:02 pm on Sunday, December 30, 2012
@ Atlgal, did you read the above? This deal does not address all the significant concerns of the neighborhood. The problem is that hundreds of section 8 folks, who have a clear history of breaking the law and detracting from the neighborhood, live in row housing in close proximity to each other. how will an updated apartment and access to a computer lab change the night noise, public drinking, and random gunfire? You are essentially validating their prior behavior as well as padding the pockets of a slumlord. Who is going to keep track of how these funds are spent? My guess is the executive at chc who got this deal approved is going to get a huge bonus and promotion. Why not spend 1 million painting and rehabbing the units and spend the remainding 14 million on a permanent security force because that's the only way things will improve if all the same people are living there. in five years, when, and if, you look back at this you will see the same problems exist. Yes, the quality of life for the residents will be approved. However, the tax paying neighbors quality of life will remain the same.
DJS
12:00 am on Sunday, April 28, 2013
What a waste of money. I have a townhome on the other side of the Beltline from this slum. Dressing it up will make no difference in the amount of crime that comes out of that place. They should tear it down. I am so sick of the nightly gun shots and monthly break-ins.
YAC
7:14 pm on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Everyone that lives in low income housing doesn't break the law nor participate in drinking publicly..many are law abiding citizens who didn't happen to come over on the Mayflower
A F
3:57 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Exactly....
DJS
12:04 am on Sunday, April 28, 2013
Well I live next to this place and it's a crime ridden hell hole. Nightly gun shots, monthly break-ins, and the kids yell racist comments at me when I am on my deck. So you can take your bleeding heart and stuff it. Unless you live next to it and are ok with the crime leave you ignorant opinions to yourself.
Tickner
6:36 am on Saturday, May 4, 2013
All of the comments regarding the ideal use for this space -- truly mixed-income housing -- are spot on. Look at East Lake. It's now a national model. With the location here there are similar possibilities. One commenter raises the legitimate point that "mixed income" sometimes means too little low-income housing. But there are safeguards that can address this - again, East Lake is a good example: Build a Y, or some kind of community center, invest in the school (Parkside), and you will get a truly ideal experience for everyone involved.
teresa
3:25 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
You all don't know anything but to judge others.I live in Trestletree village apts and i do not break any laws.Just because we are not wealthy as some of you does not give you all a reason to judge and talk down on others.Everyone who lives in trestletree are not bad ppl i,I am a student at atlanta technical college & im actually doing something with my life.I may live in a project but im young and didn't come from much but guess what i have goals.I keep quiet and never cause problems so you can't make everyone out to be bad ppl because of what others do.No i don't agree with the remodeling because its clearly not goinf to change anything ,but I will not let you all talk down on me because i am apart of what you all call it a " slumlord".But i am not a bad person im young trying too make it out and trust me I will.You home owners near by aren't so innocent yourselves because you all cause commotion to.So before you come off judging because were not as forturnate as you look at yourself to.& by the way trestletree village want be going anywhere because its a historic landmark ,so maybe you all should just leave since it bothers you so much!!!