The Marietta Housing Authority has chosen an exterior design for the Tower at Dorsey Manor, an 80-unit senior housing facility on Lemon Street in Marietta. The renovation is in addition to the Retreat at Dorsey Manor, a 72-unit senior housing facility being built at the corner of Haynes and Lemon streets.
The Tower renovation will include 71 affordable housing units and nine units available for rent at market rates regardless of income. Amenities at the Tower at Dorsey Manor will include an exercise room, library and computer room, and residents will also have access to amenities at the Retreat at Dorsey Manor, including a movie theater.
Income limits for the affordable units are $39,850 for individuals and $45,550 for couples, and forty percent of the units will be reserved for individuals with incomes less than $29,684 and couples less than $34,162 as required by the tax code. Rents for the affordable units will be based on 30 percent of the resident’s adjusted gross income. Rents for other units are expected to be $700 to $750 per month, depending on size.
Eighty-nine elderly and disabled families live in the nine-story public housing facility overlooking downtown Marietta. “During the renovation, the residents will be relocated to very nice apartment complexes around Cobb County with the help of housing-choice vouchers and to MHA’s properties at Branson Homes, Henderson Arms, and Fort Hill Homes,” MHA Executive Director Ray Buday said. “MHA has signed contracts with a relocation consultant and a moving company.” A couple of moves have already taken place, he said.
MHA Chairman Ed Hammock said he is pleased with the design. “One primary goal for the exterior was to compliment the new building currently being constructed at the same site,” he said. “The exterior we have chosen will do just that. Our residents will be very pleased to have the opportunity to live at this soon-to-be-completed campus.”
“The Tower renovation will add a quality, traditional look to our downtown cityscape, which will compliment the older buildings as well as the newer structures such as The Retreat at Dorsey Manor next door,” MHA director of development Pete Waldrep said. “The addition of more glass and the balconies on each unit will give our residents outstanding views of downtown Marietta.”
Last October, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs awarded MHA and its partner, Columbia Residential, low income housing tax credits worth about $8.5 million to renovate the Tower at Dorsey Manor, and MHA will transfer the property to the new partnership, The Tower at Dorsey Manor, LP. The $8.5 million in tax credits is in addition to $6.7 million in tax credits the state awarded MHA and Colombia Residential in 2007 for the construction of The Retreat at Dorsey Manor. “Columbia Residential has an outstanding record in producing high-quality senior housing in metro Atlanta,” Buday said. “We are very fortunate to have them working with us.”
Construction on The Retreat is underway, and Waldrep expects The Retreat to begin renting in August 2009.
The architects for the Tower renovation are Picard Associates of Atlanta, and Waldrep expects construction on the Tower to begin in late July and be complete by April 2010.
About the Marietta Housing Authority
The Marietta Housing Authority is dedicated to creating, providing and increasing high quality housing opportunities to residents and provides programs to assist families, including rental options and renter-to-owner assistance.
Providing safe, affordable housing is a goal City Council established as part of the city’s vision statement.
For more information, call the Marietta Housing Authority at 770-419-3200.
