According to a report from Fox 5 Atlanta, on Tuesday, Atlanta Hip-Hop artist T.I. (Clifford Harris Jr.), Mayor Andre Dickens, and a list of other entities presented 140 units at the Intrada Building on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway in Atlanta, Georgia.
"When you listen to Tip's album... he shouts out all the neighborhoods right around here," Mayor Dickens said.
"I'm going to tell y'all a secret. Don't tell nobody. I got caught stealing from this Kmart," T.I. said, while laughing, referencing a store that stood in the neighborhood. "I thought that, you know, just to offset the shame that came with that, it would behoove me to invest in the community by acquiring these properties.”
Harris is referring to his investment in this newly constructed building on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.
The mayor and Harris say the community is a partnership with the city of Atlanta, T.I.'s "Briarhouse Holdings," and the Vecino group. T.I. says he was inspired by fellow West Side-native and Hip-Hop artist Killer Mike.
He says, “If everyone does a little, no one has to do a lot,” T.I. said.
Since 2017, several organizations have pooled their resources to create a safe space for families who've struggled financially. According to the housing website RentCafe, the average Atlanta rent is more than $1,800 per month. With a ZipRecruiter poll indicating that the average person receives $34.21 an hour, it's evident why there's such a focus on developing affordable housing.
"Safe, quality, affordable housing is linked to what we value," the mayor said. "It's not something a government can fix on its own.”
The idea is to build, and, even better, a community by "buying back the block.”
In the past two years, the mayor says the city has created 3,200 affordable homes, with another 5,000 currently under construction. The mayor says his objective is to set aside 20,000 affordable housing units.
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