April 2017 | Business View Magazine

76 77 awards since 2008. In total, close to $5.4 million in devel- opment funds –$3.5 million from grants and the difference was funded by the city.We’ve laid about 7.1 miles of water mains, 2.3 miles of sewer lines, rehabbed 53 sewer manholes, added or replaced 42 fire hy- drants, and renewed 497 water service lines. This year’s grant is going from $500,000 to $750,000, so we look forward to getting our ninth consecutive award.” Housing for the future Griffin is preparing for a population boom. Northern Atlanta suburbs are all but saturated, and the southern ‘burbs are built out all the way to Griffin’s borders. Smith says the only place for Atlanta to grow is down the I-75 corridor, of which Griffin is a part. “The regions to the north of us –Henry, Fayette – are among the fastest growing counties in America, and they’re reaching a saturation point. It’s hard to predict exactly what growth we’ll see, but we want to be able to manage it.” This puts housing as a crucial issue going forward. Bob Dull knows that scenario well. Griffin, Georgia AT A GLANCE Griffin, Georgia WHAT: County seat of Spalding County, GA; population 24,000 WHERE: Located within the Metropolitan Atlanta area WEBSITE: www.cityofgriffin.com “We’re in the middle of redevelopment of our entire public housing stock. Originally, we were a 250-unit housing authority, and in 2013 we began demolition of our first public housing site.We received a Depart- ment of Community Affairs grant and a low-income housing tax credit, and built Meriwether Phase One ‘The Oaks at Park Pointe’– a $16 million project with 86 units, half subsidized, half tax credit.” This was followed with an award for Phase Two, The Iris at Park Pointe (a se- niors’ mid-rise community), plus two Fed- eral Home Loan Bank grants for $500,000 each. “We just received word on Phase Three, a seniors’ mid-rise on our city golf course,” Dull adds. “That brings our total to