The Future of Atlanta's Housing Opportunity Fund

This document was completed by Michael Hellier to assist The Atlanta Housing Association of Neighborhood-based Developers with their decisions regarding Atlanta’s Housing Opportunity Fund. This document is also a part of an applied research paper for the Master of City and Regional Planning program at the Georgia Institute of Technology, under the guidance and supervision of Professor Dan Immergluck.In 2007, the city of Atlanta approved a general obligation bond issuance to assist in the creation of workforce housing. Even in challenging economic times, the $13.5 million in expended funds has leveraged more than $94.4 million in private money and created over 1,200 units of quality workforce housing. In the past the general fund was the only source of revenue for the Housing Opportunity Fund, but this is proving to be an unreliable solution. To become a sustainable tool in incentivizing workforce housing in Atlanta, it is necessary to identify alternative revenue sources. This report explores potential revenue sources for the Housing Opportunity Fund, as well as the future allocation breakdown for when the trust fund is revitalized. The primary sources for recommendations were two separate surveys. The first (Affordable Housing Trust Fund Survey) was conducted at the end of 2011, which asked practitioners across the United States about their experience working with affordable housing trust funds. The second survey (Housing Opportunity Fund Allocation Survey) was conducted in February 2012, and asked Atlanta housing practitioners, policy makers, and professors their opinions about past and future allocations of Housing Opportunity Fund money.Dan Immergluc