Historic Downtown church has plans for affordable housing

By Collin Kelley

Plans have been revealed for an affordable housing development on the property of historic Atlanta First United Methodist Church in Downtown.

The property in question is located behind the 120-year-old gothic sanctuary between Peachtree and West Peachtree streets and is currently a church education building, an unused building and parking lot.

The church has partnered with Evergreen Real Estate Group to develop the 1.8 acres and is seeking a $250,000 pre-development loan from the Eastside TAD (tax allocation district), according to

Invest Atlanta.

The development would include a curving 16-story building with 170 apartments on the West Peachtree side of the property.

The church plans to offer the majority of the apartments on a sliding scale based on area median income (AMI) starting at around $500 per month for a onebedroom. Twenty-four of the units would rent at market rate, which is currently $2,000 to $2,700 per month.

There would also be a four-story building with 5,000 square feet of retail, parking garage, and new facilities for Atlanta First Day School and Ansley School.