Stanton Oaks, Formally Known As Boynton Village Is the Rehabilitation of a 43-Unit Family

Stanton Oaks:

The Facts:

Stanton Oaks, formally known as Boynton Village is the rehabilitation of a 43-unit family apartment complex located in Atlanta, Georgia. The project is a partnership between The Woda Group Inc., a top 10 nationally ranked affordable housing developer from Westerville, Ohio, and Parallel Housing Inc. a nonprofit sustainable affordable housing developer from Athens, Georgia.

The rehabilitated Stanton Oaks complex will remain a family project. The project has 5 one bedroom units, 11 two bedroom units, 22 three bedroom units and 5 four bedroom units. The renovated development features numerous amenities for the residents to use and enjoy, including additional amenities such asa multipurpose community room, a fully equipped fitness center, a computer center, a laundry facility, an outdoor grilling area and a stet of the art tot-lot. The total development was about $7.6 million.

Stanton Oaks had a Housing Assistance Payments contract (HAP contract) for 100% of the units at the time the owners acquired this property in 2014. This HAP contract was extended in 2015 for 20 years, thus maintaining these units as affordable housing.

Stanton Oaks was awarded $428,000 in Federal and State Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. This was a competitive application process. The LIHTC credits were acquired by equity investors which provides the bulk of the funding for this project. Alliant Capital acquired the Federal credits and Sugar Creek Capital acquired the State credits. Community Investment Corporation of the Carolinas (CICCAR) is providing the permanent long term debt. Chase J.P. Morgan provided the construction loan.

Invest Atlanta and Atlanta BeltLine were catalytic in this redevelopment by providing a grant from the Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund (BAHTF). The goal of such funds is to promote the creation and preservation of sustainable, affordable housing within the Beltline neighborhoods. Grant funds from BAHTF add a necessary, flexible and unprecedented tool to Atlanta’s affordable housing toolkit. Stanton Oaks was awarded a $800,000 grant from the BAHTF to preserve and renovate to LEED standards the existing Beltline affordable housing properties.

Stanton Oaks obtained a LEED for Homes Gold certification. It was also awarded in 2016 the Fulcrum Award from Southface, Atlanta. The award was designed “to recognize people, programs, buildings, movements, organizations and more that demonstrate excellence in pursing Southface’s vision: a regenerative economy, responsible resources use and social equity through a healthy built environment for all.”

Stanton Oaks was also recognized in June 2016 in Washington by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. Stanton Oaks received an Honorable Mention certificate in the HUD Preservation category for this year’s Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards competition. The award ceremony was on Capitol Hill and notification of such recognition was distributed to members of Congress and their staffs as well as Housing Credit Industry participants.

It should also be noted that Stanton Oaks received full support from Councilwoman Carla Smith since the start of the development, throughout the rehabilitation period, and still today.

Columbus Ward, President of the Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation assisted with involving the community as well as the support from the local Neighborhood Planning Unit.

Key Figures:

Total Development Costs $7.6 million. Hard Construction Costs $4.2 million.Federal Tax Credits per unit $9,953. Gross Square Footage: 53,196 (Rental 44,785)

The Process:

The development team shared a passion and dedication for developing high quality sustainable and affordable projects. They are also committed to developing to the needs of the community that the project will serve. It is crucial for a successful project to have community input into the design from the very beginning of the development process. They therefore organized design charrettes, several meetings with community leaders, tenants and community organizations. This ensured that the neighborhood and community were involved in the design of the project and that the tenants were adequately informed throughout the process. For instance, Stanton Oaks had a 100% occupancy prior to the rehabilitation which required a complex relocation process. Stanton Oaks had many families with children attending local schools. It was important for the development team to disturb as little as possible the ability for children to continue to attend their existing schools. The developer met with the local school administrators and were able to work out the temporary rerouting of certain bus routes to ensure that these students could continue to attend the same schools during the 45 to 60 days the units needed to be evacuated to allow for the interior rehabilitation work. All qualifying tenants were allowed to return to the renovated development prior to any new tenants being offered new leases.

Another key aspect that came out of the meeting with the tenants, neighborhood and community was safety. The development team realized early on that this was their primary concern. It was decided to integrate into the new community building a space that could be used by Atlanta Police Department (APD) Officers, while in the neighborhood. This space, Neighborhood Crime Prevention Center,has a separate entrance and will have a table and chairs which will allow for officers to write reports or a place for breaks. The development team worked with the APD as to the location of new security cameras as well as the link to the APD’s VIC system; which is a system monitored on a 24 hours’ basis.

The Result:

The redevelopment of Stanton Oaks required collaboration and willingness for all parties to aim for a common goal. The end result is a completely renovated property, which enables tenants to live in a property with efficient energy systems and a healthy environment for families and seniors alike.

The tenants now have a pride in where they live and have created a Stanton Oaks Association representing their interests going forward. The owners appreciate having such an organization to discuss the needs and concerns of the tenants.

The tenants wanted to have a new name to move on from the former negative connotations tied to Boynton Village, hence Stanton Oaks.