A former extended-stay motel on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Peachtree Corners has been reborn as Crest Pointe Village, a 73-unit apartment community for seniors on tight incomes and young adults ages 18 to 24, including those leaving foster care. Residents are expected to start moving in next month, with rent capped at 30% of a resident’s income and every unit built with its own kitchen and bathroom.
The project, led by the Gwinnett Housing Corporation, is described as Gwinnett County’s first conversion of a hotel into permanent affordable housing, according to North Gwinnett Voice. The building was previously known as the Spring Swallow Lodge, and the county acquired the Jimmy Carter Boulevard property specifically for the conversion, per OCG News. As reported by WSB-TV, the project went from contract to opening in under two years, according to Lejla Prljaca.
Who Gets to Call It Home
Seniors 62 and older can stay at Crest Pointe Village permanently, while young adults 18 to 24 receive case managers to help with school or work, per the WSB-TV report. OneStreet Residential will manage the property, and the apartments all include full kitchens, according to North Atlanta Star. A nonprofit called Hope, Thrive, Support will assist residents with educational, employment and personal goals, the outlet reports.
Two young women who toured the building in February offered a glimpse of what it could mean. LaQuasha Williams, who was 21 and living in a youth shelter after aging out of foster care at the time, said the building made her feel she could gain stability after coming from nothing, per WSB-TV. Destiny Thomas, 19 at the time and living in the same shelter, had never been in foster care herself but said she did not think she would become anything. Both qualify to apply for apartments but must still pass screening, the station reports.
Why Gwinnett Built It This Way
Gwinnett County has one of the nation’s largest concentrations of extended-stay hotels, according to the housing corporation, as cited by WSB-TV. That reality has long shown up in local data: a 2019 study in Norcross found that 84% of surveyed extended-stay residents considered the motel their actual place of residence, with most being local Gwinnett families, according to the City of Norcross. That same study found financial reasons were overwhelmingly why people moved into extended-stay motels in the first place, and that residents generally had jobs but could not afford the upfront costs of renting a traditional apartment. Nearly a third of those residents, 29%, were 55 or older, the city’s report found…