An increase of $100 million has been added to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) initiative with the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), which seeks to identify opportunities to finance new development near MARTA.
This $100 million increase will bring the overall initiative target up to $200 million. The Atlanta Affordable Housing and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) initiative is a flexible, multi-product program designed to promote and support the development of ground-up mixed-income, TOD projects that benefit from proximity to MARTA’s 38 heavy-rail stations, 12 Atlanta Streetcar light-rail stops and in new transit investment corridors.
The Initiative will continue to focus on projects financed through Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative, a $10 billion commitment to advance racial equity by investing in Black women.
“We thank Goldman Sachs for helping to increase affordable housing density at and around our existing and planned transit infrastructure with this first transaction on Hank Aaron Drive,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood. “And this $100 million increase in our initiative with Goldman Sachs supports our ongoing mission to provide an equitable and holistic approach to serving the communities in which we operate with transit and community development.”
A groundbreaking was held at 1090 Hank Aaron Drive in Atlanta to mark the beginning of the development of Skyline Apartments, a 250-unit affordable housing community, and the first investment made as part of the original $100 million initiative in partnership with Goldman Sachs. Skyline is across the street from the southern terminus of MARTA’s planned Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project which will connect the Southeast BeltLine to heavy-rail stations and bus routes in South Downtown Atlanta. The rapid transit service is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
“The Urban Investment Group is proud to reaffirm its engagement in Atlanta by doubling the targeted size of our affordable housing and TOD initiative with MARTA,” said Yarojin Robinson, managing director in the Urban Investment Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “By investing in affordable housing near MARTA’s transit offerings, the initiative will help to ensure that Atlanta remains accessible for all residents, regardless of household income. In addition, through projects like Skyline Apartments that are aligned with the firm’s One Million Black Women initiative, we are committed to partnering with Black-owned and Black-led developers and investing in majority-minority communities.”
Through the initiative, Goldman Sachs will seek to provide capital via Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, joint venture equity and traditional construction debt, benefitting developers of affordable and mixed income housing projects and stimulating growth and opportunity across Atlanta. MARTA continues to support its jurisdictional partners in meeting their affordable housing goals through its transit-oriented development program and innovative financing partnerships.
