Home Carrollton Press Release: Multi Family Housing Study

Press Release: Multi Family Housing Study

(Last Updated On: December 21, 2017)

Over the last five years, the City of Carrollton, home to the University of West Georgia, has experienced significant growth in off campus multi-family housing. Specifically, more than 1,400 multi-family housing bedrooms have been approved by the City in the last five years, adding to an inventory of more than 5,000 multi-family units. These statistics led the Mayor and City Council to adopt a multi-family housing moratorium in January 2016. During the moratorium, the City hired The Bleakly Advisory Group, an Atlanta-based economic and real estate consulting firm, to review the current and projected need for multi-family housing within the City, as a disproportionate amount of this housing could negatively impact the quality of life for the citizens of Carrollton.

The completed study was presented by Ken Bleakly at the June 6, 2016, Mayor and City Council meeting. This study includes information on the City’s current supply and future demand of multi-family housing, the percentage ratio of multi-family and single-family housing as compared with peer communities, the fiscal impact of multi-family housing in the City, and key findings and policy recommendations for the City of Carrollton.

The study cites that 48-percent of the housing inventory in the City of Carrollton is multi-family, while 64-percent of the citizens in the City live in rental housing (both single-family and multi-family). Both of these ratios are significantly above average among peer regional cities and peer Georgia college towns. Additionally, Carrollton has seen a shift in new construction, with the relative absence in the issuance of single-family permits and a dramatic increase in the issuance of multi-family building permits. The Bleakly Advisory Group also reviewed data for housing units that were in the development pipeline (either in plan review or under construction). The report cites once the additional approved multi-family units are constructed, the ratio of multi-family housing will increase to 50-percent.

The Mayor and City Council will continue to review the study and address certain recommendations at the June 30, 2016, Mayor and City Council meeting. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. A copy of the complete study is located online at www.carrollton-ga.gov.