DECATUR, Ga. — Decatur is set to welcome its first new luxury housing development in decades with the opening of, and groundbreaking for, an apartment complex with dozens of new units to rent.
Channel 2’s Lori Wilson got a firsthand look at the development opening in Decatur.
The Village at Legacy is a new attainable luxury housing complex in Decatur, featuring 66 units in its first phase.
The development aims to address the ongoing housing affordability crisis in the area.
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For some metro Atlanta area residents, seeing the new complex presents an opportunity to move back to where they grew up.
Paula Johnson was raised in Decatur, but lives in Atlanta. After seeing the Village at Legacy in person, she told Channel 2 Action News she’s ready to move back.
“I was like where are they building that?” Johnson said. “That’s Columbia Drive.”
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The Village at Legacy is on Columbia Drive and is just part of a broader effort to provide more affordable housing options in the City of Decatur.
“We can’t be here today simply to cut ribbons and break ground if we’re not also willing to speak the truth,” Larry Padilla, CEO of the Decatur Housing Authority, said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “There is a housing affordability crisis in our country, and it’s right here in our backyard.”
The first phase of the project includes 66 units, with plans to add another 66 units in Phase II.
Officials said for the full 132-unit development, the cost was about $50 million.
Desiree Marsh, Director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program for Decatur, said the waitlist to get into the community has already been opened twice.
“They can rent a townhome based on their income, in the beautiful community of downtown Decatur. And we sit right inside Legacy Park,” Marsh said.
There will be more opportunities to apply for a unit to live in when the second phase of construction is finished.
“This project for us here today is more than a brick and mortar project. It’s a model of what is possible when we work together,” Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, CEO of DeKalb County, said.
The Village at Legacy represents a significant step forward in addressing housing needs in Decatur, with a total investment of just under $50 million for 132 attainable luxury units.
Officials said the development is expected to provide much-needed housing options for families in the area.
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