Prestwick Companies, an Atlanta-based multifamily developer, has a strong record of success developing affordable rental housing under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The highly competitive LIHTC program is administered in Georgia by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and receives nearly 100 applications for financing each year from projects across the state. One opportunity for applicants to stand out from the crowd is to undertake a community-led transformation planning program focused on the development site and the neighborhood beyond.
Since Georgia DCA first introduced the community transformation planning initiative in its 2017 Qualified Allocation Plan, Mosaic has assisted multiple developers each year by identifying and recruiting community stakeholders to spearhead the effort by serving on a Community Quarterback Board. For Prestwick’s Arden Avenue project, which is sited adjacent to a MARTA rail station, the board we assembled contained representatives from MARTA and the Atlanta BeltLine, as well as leaders of nonprofit healthcare and employment services organizations and low-income residents of the surrounding neighborhood. The group worked collaboratively to begin identifying challenges within the community for further study as the planning process moves forward.
Mosaic also helped Prestwick gather and organize other documentation required by the LIHTC application, including letters from community partners, records of philanthropic contributions, and data on measurable improvements achieved by the development entity and its partners.
