Atlanta Housing’s Terri Lee Takes Steps to Transform Her Agency

Big changes are afoot at Atlanta Housing as the agency seeks to accelerate the development of new affordable units.

Terri Lee, president and CEO of Atlanta Housing since February, leaves her mark on the agency by announcing the appointments of Alan Ferguson Sr. as director of housing and real estate – a new consolidated position – and Dwayne Vaughn as permanent COO. Ferguson and Vaughn will report directly to Lee.

“We are in a realignment process,” Lee said in a telephone interview. “This is the start-up phase, so we can operate as efficiently as possible. We want to strengthen the capabilities of our team.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement that he valued his partnership with Lee and commended his leadership.

“I applaud the bold decisions Terri made early in her tenure, setting the tone for the important role Atlanta Housing will play in ensuring our city’s affordability for generations to come,” Dickens said, supporting the appointments by Ferguson and Vaughn. “I am proud to welcome them to their new roles and look forward to their collaboration as our offices work together to ensure all Atlantans have access to safe, quality and affordable housing options.”

Before being named CEO in January, Lee served as Atlanta Housing’s chief operating officer for about three years, giving her insight into how she would like to run the agency.

Leadership changes at the Atlanta housing authority include the expected retirements of two longtime leaders: Ernestine Garey, senior vice president of Choice Neighborhoods, and Trish O’Connell, senior vice president of planning and real estate development.

The restructuring also affected executives no longer with the agency, including head of transaction management Mike Wilson, director of real estate Dejernette “Dee Dee” Beaty and LaConia Jenkins Dean, who held the position as interim senior vice president of communications, marketing and public engagement. .

Under the new structure, all housing and real estate-related functions will report to Ferguson. He will oversee the agency’s housing vouchers – formerly Section 8 Housing – real estate planning efforts and asset management. These functions are being merged with the aim of accelerating the development of affordable housing. Ferguson, who will join Atlanta Housing on June 3, was most recently president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity-Atlanta.

Vaughn has served as interim COO since February, when Lee became CEO. Prior to that, Vaughn served as general counsel for Atlanta Housing, leading the agency’s legal team. Before joining Atlanta Housing in 2021, Vaughn was vice president of housing policy and development at Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

In a phone interview, Larry Stewart, chairman of the Atlanta Housing board, said the leadership moves “are intended to be focused on strengthening our operations.”

Stewart said it is critical for Atlanta Housing and the city to accelerate the planning and implementation of more affordable housing.

“One of our problems is we don’t move as fast as the market,” Stewart said. “If we want to build more housing to meet market needs, we need to build it faster. Currently, an agreement is taking too long.

Lee is clearly driving change at Atlanta Housing, working in sync with Stewart and the board.

“It all depends on the urgency of the moment. How to prioritize and how to speed things up,” Lee said. “Where I lead the agency is from transactional activity to transformational leadership. We are going to be very focused.

Atlanta Housing seeks to regain its prominence as a national leader in public housing.

Stewart said Atlanta has been at the forefront of public housing since Techwood Homes and University Homes were built in 1936 and 1937 respectively. These were the first two federally funded public housing developments in the country.

Then, in the mid-1990s, Atlanta again led the nation in transforming public housing with the development of Centennial Place, a mixed-income community, on the site of Techwood Homes. Centennial Place, a partnership between Integral Group founded by Egbert Perry and the Atlanta Housing Authority — under the leadership of Renee Glover — was the first in the nation to use the HOPE VI tool to transform a public housing project into a community to mixed income. .

Stewart described these two initiatives as 1.0 and 2.0.

After Glover left the Atlanta Housing Authority in September 2013 (because then-Mayor Kasim Reed did not want her in his administration), the agency entered a period of inactivity in new housing estates. The authority continued to manage its Section 8 units and oversee its existing holdings.

Atlanta Housing began restarting its development pipeline when Eugene Jones became CEO of Atlanta Housing in October 2019. He named Lee as COO in October 2020. Shortly after, then-newly elected Mayor, Andre Dickens, replaced most of the Atlanta Housing board members. in May 2022, removing many members who had been appointed by former Mayor Reed. Stewart was elected president in September.

As Stewart described at the May 17 meeting of the Transform Westside Summit, Atlanta now has the opportunity to regain its leadership position in public housing, calling it a 3.0 moment.

“We have land and money,” Stewart said. “Public-private partnerships are essential. »

Both Stewart and Lee spoke about the need to be innovative and transformative so that Atlanta Housing can have a greater impact.

“We’re excited to be able to devote renewed energy to these issues and looking at how to do things differently,” Stewart said. “I can’t wait for us to rethink what we’re doing.” Now is the time for innovation and new approaches to solving our affordability problems. »

For Stewart, the goal is to help people who live in Atlanta Housing communities be able to move forward into homeownership rather than becoming a permanent housing solution. Of course, he added that there are exceptions, especially for those who live in senior living communities.

Lee said part of the new approach is looking at housing as part of neighborhoods and a way to transform communities.

“Housing is not just about housing,” she said. “It’s about how we can provide the best environment for people.”

The mayor has set an ambitious goal: develop or maintain 20,000 affordable housing units in Atlanta by 2030. Atlanta Housing is responsible for delivering half of those units. Stewart said Atlanta Housing already has eight developments in the works, including the Civic Center and Herndon Square, where the former Herndon Homes were located.

The Atlanta Urban Development Corp., a subsidiary of Atlanta Housing, also seeks to improve housing affordability in the city. It works with other public land-owning entities – MARTA, Atlanta Public Schools, Invest Atlanta, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. – to consolidate public land to implement new developments.

Ferguson currently serves as president of AUDC, and it is not yet clear whether he will continue in this role now that he will be working at Atlanta Housing.

Lee and Ferguson also co-chair HouseATL, an umbrella entity that includes many engaged entities, businesses and individuals interested in housing affordability. It is not yet clear what impact Ferguson’s new role will have on the direction of HouseATL.

These issues will be resolved through the governance of the two entities, Lee said.

What’s most important to Lee is having Ferguson on the Atlanta Housing team.

“Alan and I have worked together for a long time in different capacities,” Lee said. “We share the same strong values. I hired Alan because he is the best person to implement our mission. Our mission is to be transformative by building community.

Under Lee, Atlanta Housing will no longer be the same old public housing authority. It will look to act quickly, be agile and execute as many trades as possible.

“It’s more than just a job to me,” Lee said. “This has been my life’s work. This is my passion. I’m really focused on what Atlanta Housing can be. How can we be the best housing agency in the country? I am excited about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead.

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