Inclusionary Zoning | Atlanta, GA

Banner INCLUSIONARY ZONING

The City of Atlanta’s first Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) ordinances took effect on January 29, 2018, and were followed by an additional ordinance on March 24, 2021, which expanded the program’s scope and geography. The purpose of the program is to promote affordable housing within the City of Atlanta and is designed to keep rents relatively affordable for residents within the income range of police, firefighters, teachers, government employees, and young professionals.

The program applies to all new multifamily rental developments, whether standalone or mixed-used multi-unit buildings, with at least 10 units that are located within the BeltLine Overlay District (roughly ½ mile of the BeltLine corridor) or the Westside Overlay District, as defined by Section 16-36A-001and Section 16-37-001 of the City of Atlanta’s Municipal Code, respectively. As of early 2021, IZ also applies to all new multifamily developments with 10 or more units, either for rent or for sale, located within the Westside Park Affordable Workforce Housing District, as defined by Section 16-41-001

A web map of the geographies where IZ currently applies is available here, and a list of completed IZ projects is available here.

Program Requirements

The IZ Program requires developers of all residential rental developments consisting of ten (10) or more new dwelling units to set aside at least:

10% of their units for incomes at or below 60% of Area Median Income (AMI); or
15% of their units for incomes at or below 80% of AMI; or
Pay a one-time in-lieu fee*, to be paid at 15% of AMI, per unit in the sub-area that the developer has chosen to opt-out of, in-lieu of setting aside affordable units.

*Payment of in-lieu fees feed into a trust fund that will be used for developing, rehabilitating, and/or reconstructing additional affordable housing units. Should a developer opt to build the affordable units, they will be able to select from a list of incentives such as 15% additional floor area ratio (FAR), reduced minimum parking space requirements, streamlined project meetings, etc. The IZ Program is governed, enforced, and monitored by the City of Atlanta’s Department of City Planning.

On-site Affordability Requirement

All improvement of real property in the eligible Inclusionary Zoning areas, regardless of the number of parcels, upon which ten or more new residential rental dwelling units will be constructed at one location, shall comply with the applicable affordability requirement set forth below:

The affordability requirement shall apply for the greater of 20 years from the date of the issuance of the certificate of occupancy; or such longer period from the date of the issuance of the certificate of occupancy, as permitted by state law at the time of the issuance of the building permit. The Affordable Workforce Housing Units shall be substantially similar in construction and appearance (e.g., square footage, type and brand of appliances, materials used for countertops, flooring, etc.) to the market-rate units, and shall not be in isolated areas in the development but shall be interspersed among market rate units. The number of bedrooms in the Affordable Workforce Housing Units (e.g. 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom) shall be proportionate to the number of bedrooms in the market rate units.

Helpful Resources

IZ Report 2020 PDF, released Jan. 2021
- as pages (best for downloading or printing)
- as spreads (best for with online viewing)

Still have Questions?

IZ Full-Width Photo City of Refuge