Payne City new affordable housing to provide Brookdale residents with stable housing

As part of its efforts to help Maconites find suitable places to live, the Macon-Bibb County Affordable Housing Fund is developing two new homes designated as permanent supportive housing units in Payne City.

The units will be located on Davis Street next to Freedom Park. The Brookdale Resource Center will identify people with uncertain housing situations — whether they are staying at the center or bouncing between hotels or couches — and help them move into the new homes, officials said. 

Alison Bender, executive director of the Brookdale Resource Center, said the proximity of the homes to their shelter will ease the transition for homeless families moving on from the center.

Brookdale, which provides support services for homeless individuals, draws on a network of housing units owned by local landlords and the Macon Housing Authority to place individuals and families into more permanent housing.

“Too often, the affordable housing is located across town, far from the community and support systems our clients have come to rely on,” Bender said. “Housing means children can remain in the same schools, ride the same bus routes and maintain friendships.”

The houses at 58 and 48 Davis St. will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and will cost roughly $360,000 to rebuild and revitalize, said Natalie Bouyett, director of the Macon-Bibb County Affordable Housing Fund.

The county broke ground Wednesday morning at the plot of dirt where a blighted home once stood. Stafford Builders will be the developers on the project.

Bouyett said the fund will look to acquire more properties through sale or foreclosure in the area.

“These homes are being renovated and newly constructed for the purpose of permanent supportive housing, which is to help our community members who have essentially fallen on hard times,” she said.

The blighted home originally at 58 Davis St. had to be demolished before renovations could take place after a fire destroyed the structure.

Kekee Wallace lives on Brigham Street, behind where the new homes are being built. He said ever since Macon, Bibb County and Payne City consolidated into a single government unit, there has been an increase in squatters and drug activity in the neighborhood.

He said he thinks some of those squatters could have been the ones to burn down the affordable housing fund’s property. He said new homes might help people get back on their feet.

“It’s a good thing for the environment, especially the community,” he said of the homes. “Regeneration is due.”

The new homes in Payne City follow the construction of several new homes in South Macon by Macon’s affordable housing fund and the housing authority.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story noted the homes would have three bedrooms. The story has been updated to note the houses will have two bedrooms.