Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta to Award More Than $1.6 Million in Grants for Affordable Housing in Georgia

Communities to Benefit Include Atlanta, Cuthbert, Lexington, Richland, and Bleckley County


ATLANTA, Jan. 26, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- A new apartment complex for senior residents in Atlanta, and 60 new single-family homes in Cuthbert are among the five winning initiatives in Georgia to receive $1.6 million in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta's Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The funding is part of more than $11.3 million FHLBank Atlanta will award to build or rehabilitate nearly 2,200 housing units in nine states and the District of Columbia.

"Affordable housing choices are moving further out of reach of America's lower- and moderate-income families, especially in areas like Atlanta, where rapid housing appreciation is outpacing worker's wages," said Lynn Brazen, FHLBank Atlanta first vice president of Community Investment Services. "So a lot of housing developers are using partnerships with private lenders and creative financing like AHP to make affordable housing feasible."

AHP is a competitive grant program that helps develop single-family and multifamily housing. Awards are granted twice a year to housing organizations that apply for funds through financial institutions that are members of the Bank. Since 1990, FHLBank Atlanta has contributed more than $260 million to address affordable housing production in the South.

FHLBank Atlanta awarded more than $20.4 million in AHP funding in 2004. Since 1990, housing organizations have used AHP to help provide nearly 50,000 homeownership and rental units for very low- to moderate-income families as well as down-payment assistance to nearly 4,000 families. For a complete list of current award winners, visit www.fhlbatl.com/ahpwinners.

About FHLBank Atlanta

Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta is a $129 billion financial services organization that provides low-cost financing, community development grants, and other banking services to 1,200 financial institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 12 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which since 1990 has contributed nearly $2 billion to affordable housing development in the U.S.

SECOND ROUND AHP WINNERS


 GEORGIA
 Columbia Senior Residence at MLK Village
 Atlanta, GA
 Member:  First Union Bank
 Sponsor:  Ebenezer Building Foundation, Inc.
 Grant:  $500,000 for 122 units
 AHP funds will be used to help construct Columbia Senior Residence 
 at MLK Village, a 122-unit multifamily rental development in 
 Atlanta. The four-story building will include one-bedroom units 
 targeted to senior citizens ages 62 and older, with 80 percent of 
 units reserved for low-income tenants and 20 percent reserved for 
 market-rate residents.

 Westwood Village
 Richland, GA
 Member:  Regions Bank
 Sponsor:  Southwest Georgia Housing Development Corporation
 Grant:  $400,000 for 50 units
 AHP funds will be used to build Westwood Village in Richland, which 
 will provide affordable housing for elderly and working families.  
 Westwood Village will be a 50-unit development consisting of 
 single-family units and duplexes that offer a neighborhood approach 
 to affordable housing.  Westwood Village will consist of 14 
 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom, and 16 three-bedroom units. Eleven 
 units will be reserved for market-rate tenants.

 Castlegate
 Cuthbert, GA
 Member:  Regions Bank
 Sponsor:  Southwest Georgia Housing Development Corporation
 Grant:  $500,000 for 60 units
 AHP funds will be used to develop Castlegate, a 60-unit mixed-income 
 development community designed for elderly and working families. The 
 community will consist of 20 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom, and 16  
 three-bedroom units.

 Mellinese's Place II
 Lexington, GA
 Member:  BB&T of NC
 Sponsor:  Rural Outreach Resource Referral Center, Inc.
 Grant:  $60,000 for 4 units
 The Rural Outreach Center is purchasing four units to be named 
 Mellinese's Place II to provide affordable housing to residents of 
 Lexington. This project is located next to Mellinese's Place, a 
 12-unit affordable housing project that was purchased and 
 rehabilitated in 2001 with the assistance of FHLBank Atlanta's AHP 
 funds.

 Rural Housing Rehabilitation
 Bleckley County, GA
 Member:  Colony Bank of Dodge County
 Sponsor:  Middle Georgia Community Action Agency, Inc.
 Grant:  $206,000 for 93 units
 AHP funds will be used to rehabilitate 93 owner-occupied, 
 single-family houses in the following nineteen counties:  Bleckley, 
 Butts, Crawford, Dodge, Houston, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Monroe, 
 Montgomery, Peach, Pike, Pulaski, Telfair, Treutlen, Twiggs, Upson, 
 Wheeler, and Wilcox.


            

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