Atlanta’s Housing Strike Force was initially built using existing staff and leadership across multiple agencies and city departments. Mayor Dickens committed much of his own time, as did his senior team, and asked for a commitment of time and existing resources (i.e., land, tools, staff availability) from strike force participants. Building the 12-person housing team in the mayor’s office allowed the work to get started while the Dickens Administration made the case for the funding needed to move projects forward.
Since the launch of the Strike Force, the city government in Atlanta has generated substantial new resources to the crisis response: it has issued $150 million in city-backed bond funding, allocated $37 million from housing trust funds, partnered on a $200 million philanthropic raise, allocated over $75 million in tax increment financing to affordable housing, and supported multiple tax incentives to help with operating subsidy to enable long-term affordability. Each of these new commitments, as well as the use of other sources, are deployed in tight coordination through the collaboration of the Strike Force. Without first putting the strike force in place, it would have been difficult to build adequate political support or effectively deploy new resources.
Meeting Atlanta’s north star of 20,000 affordable units by 2030 will require continued effort, but with a high-functioning Strike Force, strong leadership, and aligned partners, Atlanta is well on its way.
Appendix: List of Positions and Agencies Involved in the Housing Strike Force
- Mayor of Atlanta
- City of Atlanta COO
- City of Atlanta Chief Policy Officer
- City of Atlanta Senior Housing Policy Advisor
- City of Atlanta Planning Commissioner
- MARTA General Manager & CEO
- Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority Executive Director
- Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent
- Atlanta BeltLine President & CEO
- Atlanta Housing President & CEO
- Invest Atlanta President & CEO
- Metro Atlanta Land Bank Executive Director
- Atlanta Land Trust Executive Director