Atlanta development buys out of affordable housing

New residential developments in Atlanta are typically forced to include affordable housing units in exchange for the tax breaks they receive from the city.   One of those is in downtown’s “Gulch” redevelopment, where a 304-unit tower under construction was supposed to include 61 affordable housing units.  The apartment company decided to opt-out and pay the city about $8 million in “in-lieu fees” to get out of the deal – the problem?  That total is based on 2017 construction cost estimates, since the city failed to update the pricing year over year, (construction costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic).  That will cost the city at least $4 million in total, leaving the Atlanta Planning Department SINKING…