The official grand opening of Ashford Landing, the eagerly anticipated 117-unit, mid-rise affordable apartment development for independent seniors, will be held Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. Ashford Landing is located at 3521 Blair Circle, Atlanta, GA, 30319. It’s the second of a multi-phase redevelopment of a new mixed-use community, Brookleigh, on the site of the former Johnson Ferry East public housing project near Ashford Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry Road in north DeKalb County.

Dignitaries scheduled to participate in the Grand Opening include:

• Carleen Cumberbatch, chairman, Housing Authority of DeKalb County Board of Commissioners
• Sterling Bethea, executive director, Housing Authority of DeKalb County
• David H. Dixon, development partner, Norsouth Companies
• Kathy Gannon, DeKalb County Commissioner, Super District 6

“Although a number of other real estate projects have slowed down or even come to a halt during this economic downturn, the work on Brookleigh has continued,” said Dave Dixon, development partner at the Norsouth Companies, one of the developers involved with the project. “The demand for affordable, yet high-quality independent senior living is very strong. In fact, we expect Ashford Landing to be nearly 100 percent pre-leased when we open the doors,” he said.

The apartments at Ashford Landing will be one and two bedroom units for seniors 62 years and older. All units are priced to be affordable to lower-income seniors, with rents beginning at $720/month. The building features a wellness center, library, computer center, multipurpose event room with community kitchen and movie screen, picnic gazebo with grille and outdoor living rooms throughout the building. Each apartment has been built with accessibility features, crown moulding, fully-equipped designer kitchens, emergency notification systems and washer-dryer connections. Most units have shower units with built-in seating. A range of wellness, educational and other services will be provided to residents by Senior Connections.

The entire 56-acre site, owned by the Housing Authority of DeKalb County (HADC), is being recreated through a public/private partnership as a mixed-use, mixed income community, centered around a central park. Construction is being managed in six phases and at completion in 2012, the property will include apartments for independent seniors, a restaurant-anchored retail village, luxury mid-rise apartments and high-end single family homes and condominiums.

In total, the new pedestrian-oriented community will be comprised of 768 residential units and 70,000 square feet of retail space. The overall site and the senior housing are being developed by the Norsouth Companies and the Collaborative Firm, both of Atlanta, as development partners of HADC. The retail village is being developed by Atlanta-based Madison Retail, LLC.

“The redevelopment of Johnson Ferry East meets several HADC goals,” said Sterling Bethea, executive director of the Housing Authority of DeKalb County. “The Authority is committed to transforming public housing and the lives of our residents by providing high quality, mixed-income communities without the traditional concentrations of low-income households. The redevelopment of what used to be Johnson Ferry East eliminates the old apartments which were built in 1948 and were sorely outdated. Brookleigh will be an economically integrated community, interconnected with the fabric of surrounding neighborhoods, and it will create a vibrant live-work-play environment. We believe that Brookleigh will be a model of what mixed-income communities can truly be.” Bethea said.

The development occupies a prime location just north of Brookhaven and adjacent to Chamblee and Blackburn Park. The PATH Foundation multipurpose trail runs through the redeveloped master plan, connecting the property to Blackburn Park, Murphy Candler Park and other points throughout metro Atlanta. Brookleigh residents also have convenient access to public transportation, two supermarket-anchored shopping centers, restaurants, the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA and nearby hospitals and medical facilities. Mature trees were removed during the demolition of the old public housing buildings, and then re-planted in the community’s new park and master plan. Community garden plots are available for the residents of each of the new senior properties, including Ashford Landing.

“It’s exciting to participate in the redevelop of such a prime parcel of land inside the perimeter, and to do it with housing components which are mixed income,” said David H. Dixon, development partner at Norsouth Companies. “The goal is to create a true sense of place here, with large, usable green spaces, the conservation of old-growth trees, pedestrian connectivity and the highest quality design standards throughout the development. We have a tremendous partnership with HADC, DeKalb County and the surrounding neighborhoods. Brookleigh will be a community where people love to live and visit. The Brookleigh Master Association has been formed to ensure that all components of the development are designed and managed to the same high quality standards as those in the first phases,” Dixon said.

Construction on Ashford Landing was completed in March, 2009. The DeKalb County Housing Authority provided approximately $1.2 million in financing for the building. Debt and Equity Financing were provided by SunTrust Community Development Corp. Tax Credits were provided through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Mercy Services, an affiliate of Mercy Housing Southeast, Inc., is the property manager.

Ashford Parkside, the first senior apartment development at Brookleigh, opened in January 2008 and remains fully leased. The same public/private partnership is now planning the third phase of Brookleigh, which will be the final 121-unit apartment building for independent seniors. Construction is projected to begin in March 2010, with leasing to start a year later.

jhcarson@bellsouth.net