On July 17, dignitaries, community partners, residents of Oakview Walk and other stakeholders officially opened Oakview Walk apartment community, a beautiful redevelopment of the former Oakview Apartments at 1111 Oakview Road in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood.  Decatur Housing Authority (DHA) Executive Director Douglas Faust, Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett, DHA Board of Commissioners Chair Melissa Heffner, Dorothy Bell, senior construction management program specialist, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Jill Toth of Bank of America, and others gave remarks and participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.  www.decaturhousing.org

“I believe that affordable, achievable and accessible housing is the foundation that supports a stable and positive life,” said DHA Executive Director Douglas Faust.  “With stability, families can pursue healthy habits, greater educational opportunities and quality employment.  The Decatur Housing Authority exists to provide excellent affordable housing and to form positive, supportive and healthy communities.  Our developments help revitalize neighborhoods, and Oakview Walk is no exception.  We are proud of these new homes, as they are the capstone of five years of hard work in planning, financing, resident relocation, construction, development and property management.  This massive three-phase redevelopment of Trinity Walk I and II and Oakview Walk represents nearly $30 million in revitalization in the City of Decatur.”

Mayor Garrett said, “I remember when (Oakview Walk) was just an idea, and Doug Faust came to the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association with information and sketches of what was to come.  And, wow, what an asset Oakview Walk is to the neighborhood!  The City of Decatur and the Decatur Housing Authority are committed to providing a variety of housing options for current and future residents.  We look forward to working together to achieve actionable solutions to find ways to open the doors to those who are underserved by Decatur’s real estate market.  I’m proud to say that the City Commission has recently established an Affordable Housing Task Force as a result of our first-ever Decatur Housing Summit and DHA Executive Director Doug Faust is part of that group.”

Replacing an outdated apartment complex, Oakview Walk now consists of 34 family apartments in an attractive three-story building.  It includes 27 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom apartments, all built to the Enterprise Community Green standard.  The community also includes a multipurpose community room, a covered exterior gathering area, onsite laundry, a “tot lot” equipped play area, fenced community garden, gathering area with kitchen, computer lab, wellness center and an onsite management office.

Because DHA and the City of Decatur are committed to maintaining economic diversity within the city through workforce housing, DHA created a revitalization strategy for the former 88 units of Gateway Manor and 24 units of Oakview Apartments to be conducted in three phases and to create new communities of attractive, energy-efficient apartment homes with onsite amenities and life-enhancing programs in the communities’ original locations, close to Decatur’s award-winning public schools, public transportation, shopping, dining, recreation, medical facilities and worship centers.

“The City of Decatur is relatively unique in that its affordable housing communities are part of the fabric of the city, and not constructed some distance away,” said Faust.  “In addition, we believe in creating transformational communities that go far beyond bricks and mortar.  We look for ways to enhance the lifestyles of our residents through community gardening programs, play areas for the children, academic resources for students and mentoring programs.  A number of local organizations and businesses partner with us to provide educational opportunities for our younger residents as well as employment, health and wellness programs for the adults.”

These partnerships include:

• Decatur’s Wylde Center and the University of Georgia Extension Service which will offer onsite gardening, cooking and nutrition programs.

• Bryant Pharmacy, working with local businesses, will provide free, regular health screenings to residents.

• Decatur Education Foundation, local citizens and Decatur businesses have collaborated to create The Opportunity Partnership, a mentoring program for low income students.  The program connects the students with quality opportunities to help them explore their interests, find their passions and develop useful life skills.

• DHA’s award-winning STARS Afterschool Program, offered onsite for younger students.  It includes tutoring, homework assistance, reading, computer skills and enrichment classes.

During Oakview Walk’s grand opening ceremony, Melissa Heffner, chairman of the DHA Board of Commissioners, said, “Our community’s passion for affordable housing and its investment in the families that are a part of DHA amaze and inspire me.  Today’s grand opening is a tangible reminder of DHA’s mission to ‘support the strength and diversity of Decatur’s community’.  But housing is only part of what DHA prioritizes.  Our commitment to strengthening Decatur’s community reaches beyond real estate development and housing management.  Since 1992, DHA has funded scholarships to support 377 graduating high school seniors as they begin their collegiate careers, and 42 adult learners continuing their educations.  At our academic ceremonies in May, we awarded $41,000 in scholarships, bringing our total scholarship funding over the past 26 years to just over half a million dollars.”

Oakview Walk is the third and final phase of the extensive Trinity Walk revitalization effort by DHA, the City of Decatur, Preserving Affordable Housing, Inc. (PAH), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), City Schools of Decatur, MARTA, Hudson Housing Capital, Sugar Creek Capital, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch.  Martin Riley Associates was the architect for Oakview Walk, Kimley-Horn was the project engineer, and Bradley Construction served as general contractor.  DHA construction inspection was managed by Mary Beth Hemenway of The Hemenway Group, LLC, and Green Building monitoring and testing was handled by Carl Seville of SK Collaborative.

Twenty-seven of the new apartments are tax credit units designed for families earning 30-60% of Area Median Income (AMI).  The remaining seven apartments are designated as workforce housing for families earning 80% to 120% of AMI with rents below market rate.

With the nine homes at Trinity Walk I & II and the completion of 34 homes at Oakview Walk, DHA has added 43 new homes to its affordable housing stock.  Since 2014, this is a nine percent increase in housing stock (from 475 up to 518 homes) while completing the complete revitalization of Allen Wilson and Trinity Walk communities comprised of 346 homes for a total investment of $55.7 million.