New housing coming to Woodlawn by Fall: ‘Revitalization not gentrification’
New market rate and affordable housing developments are coming to Woodlawn this Fall.
Woodlawn United, a neighborhood revitalization nonprofit, is breaking ground on their mixed-income housing initiative. Developers are building four market rate houses on 50th Street North in West Woodlawn, each priced at $259,000 and expected to be up and running by September. Another project in the works is affordable housing in South Woodlawn on Georgia Road.
Local officials said the projects will ensure community members have access to housing that doesn’t price out or displace them.
“We have to make price points accessible for those who want to come into the community. We need to make sure that Woodlawn does not go the way of other neighborhoods where the original community is priced out,” Jason Avery, president of the Woodlawn neighborhood association, said.
“As long as we work together and we continue to make space for houses and developments like this, I think we’re going to continue to see a diverse, vibrant and growing community.”
For 15 years, Woodlawn United has prioritized the creation of mixed-use housing throughout the community while ensuring none of the neighborhood’s residents were displaced.
“We are really, really determined to make sure that we do it the right way that we have revitalization, not gentrification,” Avery, a Woodlawn United board member, said.
“In Woodlawn, we always want people to know that change is happening with them, not to them.”
Since its inception, homeownership in the neighborhood has increased 10%, according to President and CEO of Woodlawn United Mashonda Taylor.
“In West Woodlawn, we did not have a market rate product, so this enables us to fill a need within our community,” Taylor said.
“This house doesn’t just represent a house being built. It represents community, us coming together with a shared vision to say that we will lead the charge not only in Woodlawn, not only in the city, not only in the state, but people around the nation are recognizing that we are doing this the right way. Our community will not be priced out. We will be intentional.”
District Four Councilor J.T. Moore said additional housing and investments in the neighborhood will help to mitigate blight issues like illegal dumping in vacant, abandoned and overgrown lots.
“Anybody who has bought a house can attest to the fact that it’s a very scary thing…By having all of these partners come together to be able to find ways to make housing affordable, eliminates that fear,” Moore said.
“And I think that that is truly important, because the more we can eliminate that fear, the more we can get people into housing so that they can add value to their community.”
By fall, Woodlawn United will be breaking ground for the Cottages on Georgia Road which will provide housing for moderate-income and extremely low-income individuals and families.
“We’ve got market-rate housing today. We will be breaking ground on affordable in the next few weeks…People deserve high quality houses regardless of their income level,” Taylor said.
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