City of Refuge Breaks Ground on 38,000-Square-Foot Transformation Center

Local nonprofit organization City of Refuge has broken ground on a 38,000-square-foot facility on Atlanta’s Westside.

The Transformation Center will be located at 1343 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard, a short walk from the City of Refuge campus. The three-story facility will offer affordable housing and supportive services with the goal of improving access to resources for individuals and families in need.

The center will include a market or grocery store, in addition to a medical and mental health clinic on the first floor. There will be on-site credit union and classes on financial literacy, parenting, nutrition and homebuying.

Other services include an Entrepreneurship Hub to help aspiring entrepreneurs begin the process of starting their own businesses. It will include a classroom, offices and a lab for idea-sharing and presentations, with a goal of training 100 potential entrepreneurs.

A new construction adjacent to the main building will provide 25 housing units with a mix of two- and three-bedroom units, as well as one four-bedroom unit. Thirteen units will be available at or below 30 percent AMI.

Invest Atlanta will contribute a $2 million BeltLine Tax Allocation District (TAD) increment grant to help fund the residential part in support of Mayor Andre Dickens ’ goal of building or preserving 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030 .

City of Refuge has also received a $3 million federal New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) through Atlanta Emerging Markets and Capital One . The affordable housing component also received funding support from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and TogetherATL .

The $15,200,000 Transformation Center project is part of City of Refuge’s “Breaking Barriers. Building Momentum.” capital campaign that launched in 2022.

“With more than 25 years operating on Atlanta’s Westside, we have been blessed to serve more than 35,000 people. The Transformation Center will enable us to deepen our outreach into the community,” said Bruce Deel , founder and CEO of City of Refuge. “We are immensely grateful for the generosity of our partners as we reach this significant groundbreaking milestone and set in motion a key centerpiece of our capital campaign to help the individuals we champion everyday boldly reach their full potential and spur long-term change in their neighborhood.”

The Transformation Center is expected to open in fall 2025.

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