A controversial rezoning proposal to allow construction of an apartment building for homeless senior citizens in the Kirkwood neighborhood is back on the Atlanta Zoning Review Board‘s agenda for its April 30 meeting at 6 p.m.
The 0.66-acre property at the corner of Howard and Hallman streets is currently owned by Turner Monumental AME Church and zoned for single-family residential use. The apartment building would require a rezoning change to planned development housing.
Both Neighborhood Planning Unit-O and the Kirkwood Neighbors Organization (KNO) have voted against the rezoning request. The Atlanta City Council will ultimately cast the deciding vote on the project.
The project, led by Stryant Investments, would have 47 micro-apartments averaging 260 square feet. Property management, leasing offices, and social services would all be on-site. Tenants would be required to be age 62 or older, earning no more than $40,000 per year.
Opponents say the project is too dense for a residential neighborhood and are concerned about traffic congestion and public safety. Others voiced concerns about the lack of parking and the size of the units.
Turner Monumental AME, a fixture in the community for more than 120 years, received a $25,000 Faith-Based Initiative Development pre-development loan for the project through Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development office.
In the loan documents, the project is labeled as permanent supportive housing, but the rezoning request does not include that language. Residents have decried the lack of transparency from the church and the developer concerning details of the apartment building.
Stryant co-founder Stan Sugarman refused to sign a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) community benefits agreement to protect residents and the surrounding community.
Sugarman said in an interview with Atlanta Civic Circle that he would sign the community benefits agreement if the development moves forward.
Other opponents have also questioned the lack of transparency on the project from Dist. 5 City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari.
A series of emails obtained in an open records request by Kirkwood residents and shared with Rough Draft indicate that Bakhtiari was advised of the project by Sugarman in Spring 2024. However, in response to questions at public meetings in late 2025, Bakhtiari claimed to know very little about the project.
Bakhtiari said they would have no statement until after the zoning review board makes its decision.
Kirkwood resident Ben Kaplan said he and many residents are in favor of supportive housing, but the perceived lack of impartiality and transparency from the involved parties has left homeowners on edge.
“Rezoning in Atlanta is a quasi-judicial process. It demands impartiality. The documented record raises serious questions about whether that impartiality existed here,” Kaplan said in a statement to Rough Draft.
“Additionally the KNO worked directly with the church on a restrictive covenant and proposed HUD best practices as the operational standard,” he continued. “The church walked away from their own process the moment accountability was required. The community deserves a process that is transparent, fair, and above reproach. This one wasn’t.”
