Legacy Park Housing Plan

Additional efforts put finer point on affordability ambitions

The Legacy Park master planning process wasn’t just an exercise in visioning. It was also a means by which the Decatur community voiced and prioritized its values. Those values — like sustainability, recreation, and preservation — are now embedded in the long-term goals for the property.

Also among those goals is housing affordability. The property’s master plan identifies two areas — the North and South Villages — for housing. But exactly what form should such housing take? What scale and design can viably address this pressing need while also remaining sensitive to the historic character of the campus and compatible to its surrounding neighborhoods?

In response to these sorts of implementation-specific questions, it was determined that further study and input was necessary to refine the scale, building placement, and building types — together with their respective economic realities — envisioned for each housing village.

The process began with input from affordable housing providers, advocates, and other industry stakeholders. Their insights then informed a community housing workshop in April, 2019, where activities engaged participants to think creatively about scale and building types as well as to consider who the housing could serve once completed. Similar ideas were then discussed with the Winnona Park community during their May Neighborhood Association meeting.

Workshop participants envision potential affordable housing scenarios.

In conjunction with these efforts, Bleakly Advisory Group conducted an analysis of whether or not the envisioned housing scenarios would be financially feasible and what incentives might be needed in order to attract the right team for the project.

The emerging plans were presented at a public work session of the Decatur City Commission for further engagement and input. Comments and questions helped round out the recommendations presented in the finalized Housing Addendum, which was presented to the Planning Commission and adopted by the City Commission in December 2019.

Check Out the Plan: The complete Legacy Park Master Plan, inclusive of the Housing Addendum (Section 8, following the appendix) can be reviewed here.

Next Steps

The Housing Addendum is anticipated to be used by the City of Decatur in its Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals (RFQ/RFP) process when seeking future development partners. It should be used as a framework by those potential partners in their design proposals, as it sets forth a certain level of expectation for how the housing villages are envisioned to further the goals for affordable housing in the City of Decatur.