By Leija Prijaca
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. | An extended stay motel in this city is being converted into apartments by Gwinnett Housing Corporation (GHC). It is acquiring Spring Swallow Lodge at 7065 Jimmy Carter Boulevard to transform the motel into affordable housing for seniors and homeless youth ages 18-24. The Lodge is located on a 4.69-acre parcel and features 73 apartments of 450-650 square foot efficiencies with fully equipped kitchens.
Prijaca
GHC purchased the property in March for $8.7 million. With an estimated total development cost of $14 million, GHC has identified most of the funding for this project. Gwinnett County government has committed $7.7 million in federal funding to support the acquisition and rehab. Additionally, GHC has obtained preliminary commitments from the Greater Atlanta Community Foundation and Chase Bank.
Successful conversion has the potential to increase economic opportunities in the following areas:
- Reduced Transiency: Converting Extended Stay Housing (ESH) to permanent housing will lower the residential transiency associated with ESH and will have a stabilizing community effect.
- Lower Crime Rate: Analysis of Gwinnett Police data shows high criminal activity surrounding ESHs, typically a result of negligent management practices with low personal stake in the community’s well-being. The development will be locally owned and operated with screening criteria targeting seniors and college/career/vocational training-bound youth aging out of foster care system.
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The new project is near Peachtree Boulevard
Create healthier living environments: This includes improved energy efficiency standards, more greenspace, professional property management to ensure resident and area safety, modern amenities, increased living space, and various interior and exterior safety features.
- More permanent affordable housing in southern Gwinnett County: The Gwinnett County Comprehensive Housing Study states that only three percent of Gwinnett’s apartments rent for less than $1,000 a month (attainable to households earning $40,000 annually or less). 70,000 Gwinnett households fall into this earning category. According to Gwinnett Citizen, in 2021, the fastest-growing county in Georgia, Gwinnett County ranks third in its homeless population. The Gwinnett Daily Post has recently reported that “Georgia experienced a two percent increase in homelessness from 2019 to 2021, with more than 10,600 currently unhoused.” With this development, GHC will address the shortage of affordable rental housing for Gwinnett’s most underserved population.
- From housing insecurity towards financial self-sufficiency: Although ESH provides shelter for housing-insecure families, they often trap households in a tenuous situation because of high costs and inability to save for an apartment. GHC’s vision is to create sustainable communities, with a focus in combining the “bricks and mortar” approach with the provision of critical, on-site services, in collaboration with trusted partners, such as educational opportunities, employment assistance, financial literacy and wellness programming.
The proposed conversion will reduce the negative impacts that occur with poorly managed Extended Stay Hotels (ESHs) by converting their use to a better run and more stable permanent affordable housing product. It will also increase the supply of permanent affordable housing in Gwinnett. ESH management practices and their use as housing-of-last-resort has contributed to economic blight around these properties. This problem is further compounded by the fact that Gwinnett has the highest number of ESHs in the country.
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