PROPERTY OVERVIEW
| Property address | 405 Cooper St, SW Atlanta, GA 30312 |
| Size | 2.2 acres |
| Current zoning | SPI-18 SA1 Mechanicsville Neighborhood Special Public Interest District |
| Current land use | RG-3 General (multifamily) Residential – FAR 0.696 |
| Appraised value | $831,500 (Land – 331,100 Improvement – $500,400) |
PROPERTY USE RECOMMENDATION
Based on our analysis, the local community would benefit from a health and wellness focused community center that services local students as well as the broader community.
Property Selection Rationale
The Cooper St. property is located in an area with the highest community need scores. In addition, nearby schools have higher projected utilization rates than our other subject properties, adding some variety to our analysis. This property is located immediately south of Downtown and is within walking distance of Dunbar Elementary school. The site’s central location gives it potential to serve the needs of APS students, as well as the broader community.
Community need: The Mechanicsville neighborhood, which surrounds the Cooper Street property, has a high level of community need across all four indicator categories. The median household income in the surrounding area is almost 50% lower than the City of Atlanta’s average and about 50% of its residents are rent cost-burdened. Only about 13% of the units are owner-occupied meaning there is a significantly higher renting population than the area at large.
Employment conditions are also a significant challenge. At about 18%, the local unemployment rate is twice as high as the city’s. Many residents have limited employment opportunities, particularly because more than 80% of residents do not have a bachelor’s degree. Since the neighborhood lacks sufficient job opportunities for these residents, the majority of residents work outside of Mechanicsville. Some work numerous counties away (Sessoms, personal interview). This is complicated by the fact that about 1 out of 5 workers do not have a car and the nearest MARTA station is on the other side of a large highway and is not a pleasant walk for most residents.
Furthermore, approximately 1 out of 3 residents do not have health insurance. Finally, many residents have physical and mental health related issues such as asthma and diabetes (Moorehouse School of Medicine, 2015). Air pollution is also a problem. While Atlanta scores relatively low on the health index scale, indicating high levels of exposure to dangerous toxins, Mechanicsville scores at the lowest level possible.
Utilization/Population: The closest elementary and middle schools are at utilization levels of 96% and 101%, respectively. The projected utilization rate for the nearest high school is slightly lower, at roughly 78%. Although the expected growth in enrollment is notably higher than it is for the closest schools of other three selected properties, it is still much lower than many other parts of the city. While this might mean that there is less potential for long term use than some of the other properties, selecting this property provides an example of what might fit into a higher growth area. Though sites with higher projected population and utilization rates may have to be retained for school purposes in the near future, the projected population still seems low enough for now to warrant such a proposal. Moreover, the small land area of the site makes it unlikely to be used for an actual school building.
Current assets: The Cooper Street property is located 0.4 miles from the nearest elementary school, Dunbar Elementary. A trio of affordable housing developments, developed between 2009 and 2017 are located 0.5 miles from the site and 0.1 miles away from Dunbar Elementary. Other multifamily developments in the community provide a stock of naturally occurring affordable housing, however, every development other than the three aforementioned properties are Class C or Class F buildings. Class C buildings are typically older than 30 years, and need numerous repairs. Class F buildings are inoperable and unlivable. Cooper Street is 0.5 miles away from the Garnett MARTA Station. The area is accessible by numerous MARTA bus routes, connecting other parts of the city. Route 49, which passes the property of interest, connects the area to downtown and various neighborhoods in southeast Atlanta with frequencies up to every 20 minutes. Lastly, a community library is directly adjacent to the Cooper Street property.
How the Property Fits into Existing Plans
Improving students’ physical and mental health is one of the priorities of the Development Cluster Plan from December 2018, and is supported by a community survey from the Morehouse School of Medicine. Community issues include: a high prevalence of Asthma and diabetes, lack of access to healthy foods, and high instances of adverse childhood experiences. These were all echoed by the principal of Dunbar Elementary School, Dr. Earnest Sessoms, who explained that many of his students live in sub-par living conditions and have experienced adverse childhood experiences, which can impair their personal and academic well-being. One of the priorities was to “develop a set of cluster-wide procedures and protocols that will support the social and emotional development of students.” While this entails more than mental health services, schools have been considering the importance of mental health and well-being in broader terms.
Recommendation
The community demonstrates a need for mental and physical health services as well as access to healthy food. Students and adults in the community would benefit from a health and wellness focused community center. The proposed community center would have numerous components. The bulk of the first floor would be open to the public, and occupied by large studio style classrooms for health classes, a community kitchen that offers cooking classes and educational resources about health. A weekly outdoor farmer’s market, or food truck activation, directly outside of the property would provide access to fresh, healthy food that is largely absent in the community. The second floor of the proposed building would be dedicated to offices that house medical practices, such as family physician offices, dentists, and specialty doctors. These medical offices provide an easily accessible service that students and families in the neighborhood would benefit from. Lastly, a walking/running track around the circumference of the property would provide another publicly accessible, health-focused amenity.
Justification
Physical and mental health issues are prevalent in the community surrounding the Cooper Street property. The proximity to Downtown creates an environment with poor air quality and increased chances of exposure to harmful toxins. The Morehouse survey revealed many residents in this area suffer from chronic health issues and see few outlets for improving these conditions due to a lack of affordable health care providers and healthy food. For the many residents who lack health insurance, the lack of healthcare services is even more pronounced. Many community residents also suffer from mental distress. The principal of Dunbar Elementary explained how poor living conditions, difficult family life, substance abuse, along with other adverse childhood experiences, accumulate to affect many members of the community, especially students. That is why we see a great need for this community center that provides healthcare and wellness services to the adults and students in the area and acts as an open space to shop, learn, interact, and heal with other community members.
Phasing
While all of these elements would benefit the area, APS could choose to deploy any one of these services and can do so incrementally. It is very likely that such a development would be implemented in phases due to limited funding and resources. For example, the activation of the farmer’s market and infrastructure for a walking/running track do not require the capital or infrastructure, and associated costs, that a 2-acre development would. The importance of these services is to introduce access and opportunity to a community that lacks both. These two assets would could potentially be serviceable before the development process of the proposed community center begins. In this process it is important to think strategically about what can and should be prioritized. Planning, financing, constructing, and staffing a proposed community center would take years to fully implement, but less capital intensive assets that benefit the community can still be organized, activated, and delivered in the meantime.
Potential Partnerships
- Mental and Physical Health and Medical Support Services: Archi, Emory Healthcare, Mercy, Hillside
- Recreational Services: Atlanta Track Club, Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, Atlanta United Foundation
- Educational Services: Live Healthy and Thrive Youth Services, Parent 2 Parent of Georgia
- Food Services: Atlanta Community Food Bank, Open Hand
ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO
The Cooper Street property may also be an optimal site for Atlanta Public Schools to generate revenue. Its direct access and immediate vicinity to two interstate highways, I-20 and I-85, and walking distance from the Garnett MARTA Station, make it an attractive and accessible site for catalytic development. Under a long-term ground lease, Atlanta Public Schools could create revenue, while maintaining control of valuable land in Downtown Atlanta. The Cooper Street property is currently assessed at $831,500, but an analysis of comparable land sales indicates that the property is worth closer to between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000.
There are two local models for private development using public or quasi-public land: the redevelopment of Turner Field and Summerhill by Georgia State University and Carter Development, and the development of the Coda Building in Tech Square by Portman Holdings and Next Tier HD using land owned by the Georgia Tech Foundation. These projects both involved public entities working with private developers to create developments that satisfy both organizations’ goals.
A similar model would operate on Cooper Street as such: Atlanta Public Schools would hold a ground lease with a developer, who would own and operate the property. In a separate agreement, the developer would agree to rent the bottom floor or two floors to APS who would still operate (or designate an entity to operate) the space as a community health center as outlined above (or theoretically as another community space if deemed preferable). While the building would largely operate however the developer desires (in accordance with zoning), the agreement would ensure that there is adequate and appropriate space for APS or its designee to operate the community center. The benefits to the community, however, would likely extend to more than the community center. The new building would potentially provide employment opportunities and other services to the area.
There is also potential to combine this parcel with neighboring parcels to create a larger, more catalytic development. Three adjacent acres of undeveloped land are owned by Fulton County. One scenario could be a land swap between the two public entities, with Fulton County swapping the Cooper Street adjacent land, with other land that APS owns. APS could potentially generate enough revenue to run the services in the community center. Depending on the terms of the ground lease, the building owner might have to pay property taxes on the site, which would generate more revenue for APS.
While we recognize that such a proposal would likely require a longer and more complex process, this site could be an ideal space for APS to turn a vacant public space into a revenue generating development that creates some community space and potentially even jobs for some local residents. Although this model might seem unconventional, there is no reason that such a project could not be erected in this space as long as the relevant parties work together and with the community to create a site that accommodates both purposes and does not have any significant negative impact on the residents of Mechanicsville.