He’s making home ownership more affordable!
Booker Washington is a Southwest Atlanta native who has made quite the name for himself in real estate. After developing millions in real estate assets, Washington said he began noticing a trend, home ownership was becoming increasingly unattainable for the everyday person, with Black home ownership even more out of reach in Atlanta. That’s when he decided to gather a team of real estate experts to help him create the city’s first Black-owned micro community.
Opening in the same neighborhood Washington grew up in, he founded South Park Cottages in College Park, GA, the three acre community of 29 homes becoming the 7th largest micro-home neighborhood in the nation. With the average home in Atlanta priced at about $400,000, Washington’s community homes sold for nearly half the price, maxing out at $230k and in just 50 days, he sold out. The community opened in 2023 and now Washington is back at it again, set to open a second micro community under his development company “Techie Homes.” This one will be located in Union City, Georgia with innovative features including a coffee shop and a tech lab, AfroTech reports.
“Accessbile home ownership is an issue in Atlanta. Our goal is to provide homes at a price point where mortgages are equal or less than the cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment,” Washington told reporters.
The Union Park Cottages are already a hot ticket item, with more than half of the 26 homes sold already, priced at a max of $244k. While Washington’s goal is accessibility and affordability, he stays away from the affordable housing umbrella, noting the need for people of varying incomes to live in community with one another.
“We change the way we view environments, and if we change the way we view environments, we’ll change the actual person and how they grow. That’s the reason why I don’t adopt to affordable housing projects, because if you put people of all the same incomes in the same place, they will only see what that other person’s low income provided. So you have to have a mixture of community that does adopt for people in different income levels, because they need to experience life and examples of all types so they can grow up in balance,” said Washington.
The new Union Park Cottages offer ownership and investor options along with down payment assistance and they accept first time home buyers. With one and two bedroom models, the micro-community is not only a viable path to homeownership but a tangible way to build wealth. In addition to becoming a homeowner in the community, Washington also is equipping Union Park with a tech lab and a coffee shop that residents will own equity in.
“Our goal is not just to build community but to elevate it. To allow the experiences of those not just in Union Park to enjoy innovation, but the community At Large. But that’s not all – our homeowners will have equity share in the coffee shop making them owners of a retail space!!,” the company explained in a post on social media.
To learn more about Washington’s Techie Homes and to secure your purchase in the Union Park Cottages, click HERE.
Cover photo: ATL Real Estate Developer to Open Second Micro Community Featuring a Coffee Shop & Tech Lab/Photo credit: Techie Homes/AfroTech