Affordable housing along Atlanta BeltLine

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -

There’s affordable housing at the right price. New in-town lofts are up for grabs and you won’t believe this: Someone else will pay up to $60,000 for your down-payment with no strings attached.

The Lofts at Reynoldstown Crossing along Memorial Drive sat vacant for about four years until the Atlanta BeltLine stepped in. They’re trying to bring affordable housing to the area.

“Two bedroom, two bath. You can see these are ready to move into as soon as we can sell them,” said Brian Leary.

Leary is the CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, the city’s redevelopment effort.

“This is literally the Atlanta BeltLine right out the door here. So you can imagine, you can come, open your door and you’re literally on Atlanta’s newest park,” said Leary.

While the BeltLine project has mostly focused on transit, parks and trails, they are also working to provide affordable housing. They bought the old Triumph Lofts to give people an option to own a place in-town who otherwise might not be able to.

“We think those folks in the middle, which is probably most of Atlanta, haven’t gotten a fair chance at the opportunity that this represents over the great recession,” said Leary.

There are 25 units available. To qualify, buyers can’t make more than $68,000 a year, the median income for Atlanta.

“We’ll also give you $60,000 at closing. So your first mortgage would be $85,000 so you can be in one of these units for less than $1,000 a month,” said Leary. 

They’re also offering another three units to school teachers or first responders.

“This building empty was doing nothing for anyone and we needed it to come back to life with these lights turned on, get people walking their dog on the Atlanta BeltLine,” said Leary.

The lofts will be open to look at beginning this Thursday. Atlanta BeltLine will draw names to determine who will get to move in. The drawing will happen on Dec. 10. They hope to have people move in by January.

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