Unveiling Of West Highlands At Perry Boulevard

BY JOHN SMITH, JR.

Pictured (left to right) Noel Khalil (partnet of Columbia Residential); Felicia A. Moore (Atlanta City Councilwoman, District 9); Emma Darnell (Fulton County Commissioner, District 5); Karen Handell (Chair, Fulton County Board of Commissioners); Renée Glover (chief executive officer, Atlanta Housing Authority [AHA]); Alphonso Jackson (United States Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]); Atlanta Mayor Shirley C. Franklin; Reverend Arthur Carson (Springfield Missionary Baptist Church on Hollywood Road in Atlanta)./STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN SMITH, JR.

West Highlands is Atlanta's newest in-town residential development that is expected to have 1,000 new single family homes, 460 acres of rolling green hills and old growth trees, 90 acres of parks and green space, an 18-hole public golf course, 780 new rental apartments, $428 million new urbanism development, and 134 new apartment senior community. This community is being developed where the old Perry Homes public housing development once stood. Phase one development is 100% occupied. The neighborhood is a pedestrian-friendly, live-work-play community that will soon be one of the most desirable places to live in Atlanta. YMCA and Butler Street YMCA are planning a new state-of-the-art development in the community.

In 1994, Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) applied for and received a HUD HOPE VI grant of $25.1 million. To make the sprawling residential development a reality, Atlanta Housing Authority successfully leveraged the federal grant into a $428 million public-private venture. Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) partnered with Perry Homes Redevelopment, a joint partnership of Columbia Residential, Brock Built, and Perry Golf Course Development. The principals are Noel Khalil, partner of Columbia Residential, developer for multi-family units; Steve Brock, president of Brock Built Homes, developer for single family units; and Chip Drury, president of Perry Golf Development, developer for the public golf course. Washington Mutual is a lender / partner assisting to increase homeownership opportunities for affordable housing.

On June 14, Renee Glover, the Atlanta Housing Authority and its partners hosted the unveiling of West Highlands at Perry Boulevard. Among the dignitaries on hand to unveil the new community were U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson, Atlanta Mayor Shirley C. Franklin, Fulton County Commissioner Chair Karen Handel, Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell, and Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia A. Moore.

U. S. Secretary Jackson stated that in a past report on housing developments in the United States, "Perry Homes represented the very worst." He is elated to say that the new "West Highlands represents the very best in pubic housing." Jackson continue, "No longer will these be projects, but a community." "Poverty is a condition, poor is a state of mind; and we're eradicating these terms."

As Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell steps up recalling the words from the Negro National Anthem "Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod...," she verifies "as long as one is poorly housed, all are poorly housed." Darnell added, "this is a district that believes in homeownership."

To view a two-minute video of West Highlands, visit www.atlantahousing.org/video/WestHiglandsVNR.wmv.

AHA is recognized nationally as an innovator in public-private partnerships and the transformation of public housing. AHA develops, acquires, leases and operates affordable housing in Atlanta, Georgia, and its model leads the nation in the development of mixed-use, mixed-income communities. Visit www.atlantahousing.org for more information.