During its final meeting of 2025, the Atlanta City Council approved legislation for the development of affordable housing and infrastructure improvements in Buckhead, Old Fourth Ward, and southwest Atlanta.
During the Dec. 1 meeting, the council unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing the formation of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Atlanta Urban Development Corporation to facilitate a $10 million term loan to support the implementation of the Affordable Housing Strike Force to expedite the development of affordable housing on publicly owned land.
The Council also approved a $160,800 donation to Partnership for Southern Equity to support Mayor Andre Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative.
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The council also approved a resolution authorizing the execution of a $6 million project management agreement for the development of the Lenox Road corridor trail and pedestrian safety improvements near Lenox Square in Buckhead; an ordinance authorizing the purchase of three parcels of land, comprising approximately 50 acres, from the Conservancy Fund for about $2 million to create a new nature preserve in southwest Atlanta; and a resolution accepting a $185,000 donation from the Atlanta Hawks Foundation to improve the outdoor community basketball courts at Central Park in Old Fourth Ward.
Other approved legislation included an ordinance establishing a Community Access Media Board to provide oversight, guidance, and public accountability for the City’s public, education, and governmental access media services; and a resolution accepting an in-kind donation from the Georgia Power Company’s “Make Ready” program to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure at five city facilities.
A lengthy public comment session preceded the agenda, in which several family and community members demanded justice for Linton Blackwell, the 44-year-old man who was fatally shot outside a Buckhead bar in October by Gerald Walker, an off-duty Atlanta Police Officer who was working security.
Other public commenters spoke out in opposition to the extension of Tax Allocation Districts until 2055. This legislation was held in the Community Development/Human Services Committee.
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