Union City’s next development is on the horizon on property annexed along South Fulton Parkway last year. The mainly residential development will feature single-family homes, 153 townhomes and 292 rent-structured apartments, with some of those being the Section 8 apartments strenuously objected to last year when the proposal first surfaced. The development is located just east of the Parkway Village commercial center located on the northeast corner of the parkway and Ga. Highway 92.

A townhome component and multi-family component will provide a mixed income relationship and development to the overall property, project representatives said. As reported by Union City in February, the overall project would include the townhomes and apartments and more than 100 single-family homes, nearly 100 ranch-condos and some office and retail space.

Referencing the apartment portion of the development, Billy Hughes of Hughes Bi-Coastal, LLC said tax exempt bonds issued through the Union City Housing Authority with the cooperation of Fulton County Housing Authority will be used to develop the property. Hughes said the company is also in receipt of a federal grant routed through the municipal level. The project will also use Section 42 tax credits to help with the equity, Hughes said.

“The reason we use all these different kinds of financing mechanisms is because what we’re building is a Class A apartment community where we’re spending upwards up $115,000 per unit to construct. If you go into the economics of the whole deal, there’s no way to keep the rents at an affordable level while building that Class A product. The different types of financing mechanisms are used to balanced it out,” Hughes said.

Asked by Mayor Ralph Moore if the project was exclusive only to Section 8 recipients, Hughes said that was not the case.

The apartment project is a mixed income property, another project representative Cindy Hererra said. It will contain a mixture of market-rate units, affordable units and subsidized units. So it’s required by all lenders to maintain that mixed income, she said.

Market rate for apartment units was projected in the $800s per month for one-bedroom units and the low $900s-$1,000 for two-bedroom units, company representatives said. Pricing for affordable and subsidized apartments were not given. Townhomes are expected to range from $180,000-240,000.

Project representatives said the company is currently working with city Community Development Director Ann Lippman to finalize site drawings. Land disturbance permits are expected within the next two weeks. Closings on the financing is anticipated in the beginning of November with construction also starting in early November.

Residents of unincorporated south Fulton County were adamant at the June 12, 2006 meeting where Hughes and Fulton County Community and Housing Development Corporation were blasted for entertaining the idea of locating Section 8 apartments in the area. Undeterred by the very vocal opposition and annexed a few months later, a majority on the Union City council gave its blessing to the project.

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