Albany officials break ground for 32-unit housing development in east Albany

ALBANY – A garden is blooming in east Albany, one that will offer a chance for vulnerable families to get on their feet in a 32-unit housing development that will take shape in a residential neighborhood.

The Carroll Street Gardens represents a $4 million investment in a partnership between the city of Albany, Albany Department of Community and Economic Development, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and MP Organization of Atlanta. Representatives from some of those entities came together on Thursday for a groundbreaking at the 108 S. Carroll St. site to kick off the project.

The development will include eight two-bedroom town homes, two of which will be ADA-compliant. The remaining 24 will be three-bedroom units.

“Thirteen of these will (be) dedicated to those experiencing the greatest risk of homelessness,” Orson Burton Jr., the public service manager for the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development, said. “The Carroll Street Gardens will be an example of what we can achieve when we come together with a common purpose. We are fostering a sense of inclusivity and community.”

The original $1.8 million project for eight townhomes was expanded to the final plans for 32 units, he said.

“We are not just building houses, we are building brighter futures,” Burton said.

The development is expected to have a “halo effect” that will impact the entire community, Albany Mayor Bo Dorough said. Residents who live at Carroll Street Gardens could, for example, attend a church located just down the street and boost the economy in the area.

Federal funding is a source of nearly half of the project’s cost, but there is a component of private investment as well as low-income tax credits, the mayor said.

“What you see here is not some low-cost development,” Dorough said. “I am so delighted at the quality of this project. One thing you need to remember: You’re improving the lives of those who live here.”

Initially the city considered small residences, known as “tiny homes,” the mayor said, but that was expanded.

“Then we had the idea (of) let’s have something that will help families who are facing dispossession,” he said. “We see people every day who are sleeping under the stars at night. The greater vision is families and children. This is a place where they can come.”

Development in east Albany has been slower than many who live there would like, but the city is making strides in the area as resources allow, Dorough said.

Over the last few years, investment in east Albany has come in the form of private ventures, including the $17 million Love’s Travel Stop on Clark Avenue, Dogwood Trail Apartments and the One Leaf shopping center that houses a convenience store and other businesses, including a barber shop, as well as a Jack’s restaurant, Ward I City Commissioner Jon Howard said.

“I’m like a little child that’s got Red Hots in my mouth,” he said of the new housing development. “I’m so excited. If you stay in east Albany, you ought to patronize the businesses in east Albany.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]