With help from TAD grants, New Markets Tax Credit investments, and other neighborhood investment tools, organizations are addressing pressing issues and strengthening the communities Atlantans call home.
Invest Atlanta allocated more than $155 million in total capital investment to finance redevelopment projects throughout Atlanta’s 10 tax allocation districts (TADs). These projects support economic progress, community development, downtown revitalization, infrastructure enhancement, sustainability and open spaces.
Remerge Stronger
Invest Atlanta invested $489,000 from the Eastside Tax Allocation District (TAD) Community Empowerment Fund to renovate a historic property owned and occupied by Remerge, a nonprofit serving families and businesses in the Sweet Auburn community.
A Historic Renovation
A $1.25 million grant from the Eastside Tax Allocation District (TAD) Ascension Fund is helping to finance the renovation of the historic Odd Fellows Building – home to Georgia Works, a nonprofit that helps men who are chronically unhoused. The renovation will feature retail spaces leased to local businesses at below-market rates to foster entrepreneurial opportunities and reactivate a historically disinvested part of the Sweet Auburn corridor.
Expanding Hope
The Salvation Army is addressing the urgent needs of Atlanta’s most vulnerable population with help from a $2 million Westside Tax Allocation District (TAD) Ascension Fund Grant. The funding will transform the organization’s current shelter for the unhoused into a new, expanded Center of Hope campus, which will house an emergency and transitional living facility and an Education & Workforce Development Center.
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy
Invest Atlanta relaunched the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program, a financing solution that empowers commercial property owners in Atlanta to make energy-efficient and sustainable improvements to their properties. The program provides long-term, low-interest financing for a range of energy-saving and sustainability-enhancing projects. Financing for these projects is secured by a special assessment on the property tax bill, ensuring repayment without impacting a property owner's cash flow. Additionally, the Atlanta C-PACE program utilizes an open-market structure, allowing property owners to leverage their existing financing relationships or seek financing from a variety of lenders.
Supporting Those Who Support Others
2023 AEMI Highlights
$35 million: Total invested
$12.5 million: Investment in Open Hand Atlanta, serving more than 5,000 residents
$522,000: Loans closed for five, purpose-driven organizations
Created by Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. (AEMI) is a certified Community Development Entity that fosters economic development, job creation and neighborhood revitalization. It offers flexible financing to high-impact businesses and real estate development projects using Federal New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC).
This year, AEMI invested more than $34 million in NMTCs to three organizations providing vital services to the community: Open Hand, to support the renovation of a 43,000-square-foot headquarter facility that will expand its healthy foods-focused work; Georgia Works, to support its new facility and work to help men overcome homelessness; and La Chiquita, which is creating accessible manufacturing jobs in the city of Atlanta.