Forest Cove property owner Millennia Housing Management began meeting with the condemned complex’s tenants Wednesday about a relocation plan—but it may not succeed in moving all 211 households before the July 15 target date set by the Atlanta mayor’s office.
“A lot is still up in the air,” due to the scarcity of apartments in Atlanta that accept Section 8 rent vouchers, Housing Justice League activist Foluke Nunn told Atlanta Civic Circle this week. Housing Justice League is assisting the tenants.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ office announced in March that it had set a plan with Millennia to move all the tenants by July 15. But now, Nunn said, “they can’t guarantee that everyone will be off-site by then.”
The April 13 meeting, Nunn said, “was basically a more updated version of the relocation meetings that were held [last] summer. [Millennia] could not give specific information about the locations that folks would be moved to.”
Millennia representatives did tell tenants of the Southside Atlanta complex, located in Fulton County, that some could be moved as far as DeKalb or Clayton counties.
The mayor’s office did not respond to Atlanta Civic Circle’s request for comment, although Millennia spokesperson Valerie Jerome said a relocation team made up of local nonprofits, plus APD Urban Planning and Management, is fielding residents’ questions about the plan, as they try to identify and secure new apartments.
Move-outs can start once Millennia secures the new apartments, which includes paying hold fees, Jerome said. Residents must also complete an administrative process established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), she said.
Comments / 3