Years of blight have been wiped away by the opening of a new seniors housing development.
Once the proud home of a YMCA center, the Atlanta property had been closed and a magnet for crime for more than a decade.
Prestwick Development Co. replaced the eyesore with the 101-unit Manor at Scott’s Crossing this year.
It is one of two notable redevelopment projects that the Atlanta firm has been behind this year. Prestwick also replaced a foreclosed medical office building in nearby East Point with housing for low-income seniors.
The old YMCA site had three structures. A back building that was roughly 5,000 square feet was far from empty. It was piled high with old tires that had been dumped inside over the years. In all, about 4,000 tires had to be removed, says Jody Tucker, a partner at Prestwick, a growing firm focused on affordable family and seniors properties.
This back building and another that featured an indoor swimming pool were torn down. The main YMCA building was stripped and converted into 16 apartments plus amenity space with ceilings rising more than 22 feet high. Developers then added 80,000 square feet of new construction to accommodate the remaining units.
The apartments are reserved for residents 62 years and older who earn no more than 50 percent and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). However, the majority is well below 50 percent of the AMI. Manor at Scott’s Crossing features a community room, a movie theater, a fitness center, a wellness center, an arts and crafts area, a library, and a shuffleboard court.
“Each time we visit the property, the residents always thank us for providing them such a beautiful home,” Tucker says. “That type of gratitude is our inspiration for providing affordable housing.”
The $13.7 million development was financed with federal and state low-income housing tax credits from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and syndicated by Georgia-based Direct Tax Credits. The project also received a federal Sec. 221(d)(4) loan and an Affordable Housing Program award from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta with member SunTrust Bank.
The apartments are covered by a project-based rental assistance contract from the Atlanta Housing Authority.
In June, Prestwick opened the $13.6 million, 101-unit Gateway East Point on a site that is at a passageway into the city. The high-profile property sat vacant for several years after the medical office fell into foreclosure. Working with the East Point Housing Authority, Prestwick relied on a similar team and set of financing as the Atlanta deal with the addition of a Neighborhood Stabilization Program loan from the Georgia DCA.
