The South Meadows Apartments are the latest addition to the housing stock in historic South Rome. A partnership between the South Rome Alliance and Laurel Street, the 80-unit apartment community on the site of the former Curtis Meat Packing plant on Pollock Street offers one, two, and three-bedroom apartments designed specifically for households earning 80% or less of the Rome area’s median income.
The South Meadows community is Laurel Street’s second project in cooperation with the South Rome Alliance. Previously, the North Carolina-based company partnered to construct the Burrell Square, Etowah Bend, and McCall Place apartments. All the developments were financed partly with the assistance of tax credits issued by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
Laurel Street was founded by Dionne Nelson, who has more than two decades of experience in real estate development, finance, and operations. Her company has developed more than 40 high-quality mixed-income communities for working families and seniors across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region.
Nelson was speaking at a Purpose Built Communities conference attended by South Rome Redevelopment leadership, who later contacted Laurel Street to see if there was any interest in partnering with the South Rome group. A mission statement of sorts on the Laurel Street website says, “We seek to build quality homes in connected communities as a place where true family values can be fostered. To me that makes it a Laurel Street home.”
The South Meadows apartments are finished and include high-end features, hardwood-style flooring, and the ever-popular open floor plan. Energy-efficient appliances and light fixtures to save residents money, as well as patios or balconies. The apartment community includes a community meeting room, a fitness center, and a playground with a covered pavilion.
Adjacent to the apartments is the Davies Shelter South Meadows Farm, which includes garden plots that provide fresh produce, the Davies men’s and women’s shelters, and residents of the South Meadows apartment community. A natural walking trail along the South Rome levee, which protects the new community from the Coosa River, is another one of the amenities in the neighborhood surrounding the apartments.
As an important addition to the South Rome community as the South Meadows Apartments are by themselves, South Rome Alliance Chairman David Williams believes that their construction, coupled with Etowah Bend, Burrell Square, and McCall Place, have been critical to an influx of private capital investment in South Rome. “That was always the intent,” Williams said. “If we got these leading things accomplished, then private money would follow, and it is following.”
Lee Cochran, Senior Vice President for Development at Laurel Street, said that showcasing South Rome as a viable community for private investment was always a part of the development plan, going back to Burrell Square, McCall Place, and Etowah Bend. Those three developments, along with South Meadows, in four district areas of the historic community, have provided a wide range of housing options at affordable price points.
The South Meadows Apartments, which Cochran says should be fully leased by mid-Spring, are targeted for families with incomes ranging from 80% of median income, which is close to market rate costs, to 30% of median income. In terms of real dollars, that ranges from $350 a month up to $1,270 a month.
Virtually all of the other private investments are in the form of upgrades to existing housing and a significant number of new builds on previously abandoned lots. Walt Busby with KC Homes said his company has built at least seven new homes on in-fill lots and most have sold quickly. “We feel like we’re building the least expensive products out there,” Busby said. He’s acquired several other parcels on which he hopes to start new homes soon.
