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C ITY O F ..ATL AN'1.~ July 25, 1969 ., CITY HALL ATLANTA, GA. 30303 Tel. 522-4463 Area Code 404 IVAN ALLEN, JR ., MAYOR R. EARL LANDERS, Administrative Assistant MRS. ANN M. MOSES, Executive Secretary DAN E. SWEAT, JR., Director of Governmental liaison The Honorable George Romney Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Washington, D. C . .Dear Mr. Secretary: In November, 1966, we began in Atlanta a conce:r,.trated effort to stimulate the development of 16, 800 units of low and m .oderate income housing to provide safe and sanitary shelter for thousands of less fortunate citizens. This effort, called "The Mayor's Housing R e sources Program" was supported by the U. S. Department of Housin g and Urban Development, priv ate banks, develop e rs, churches, civic groups and individual citizens at all levels. This program has produced results. As of this date, 21,013 of the five year goal of 16, 800 units have been completed, are under construction, or in plannin g . The most recent status r e port is attached for your information. Within the ne x t few w eeks, the single most si gnificant d e velopment generated by our programs will be placed under construction. It is the East Lak e Mea d ow s turnkey proj ec t, w hich i s the largest turnkey public housin g development in America w ith comprehensive community faciliti e s. Becaus e of the si gnificance of this un de rtak ing and b e cau s e it e mbodies so many of th e asp e cts of community housing a c tion w hich you so magnificently support , all of us in Atl anta - City Hall, the bui ld er s, our hous i ng o f fi c ials, and citi ze n s in g e neral - fee l that w e w ant to s h a r e the b e ginnin g of this ·p r oj e ct with you. �Secretary Romney Page Two July 25, 1969 _., I have been asked to issue you an official invitation from all of us to inaugurate construction of this most in~portant housing development for poor people. If your schedule ,,_,ill permit you to come to Atlanta in the next few weeks after August 21, we shall schedule the ceremonies for your convenience. It would also give us the opportunity to show you some of the operational components of Atlanta 1 s Model Cities program. Highlights in the development of the East Lake Meadows Project will give you some idea of its importance not only in relation to the solution of urban problems of Atlanta but perhaps in other cities. The land on which this project is located was once a golf cours e owned by prominent conservative businessmen in Atlanta. They sold it to the March Company, a private development company , and supported difficult rezoning in an area which had hitherto had no public housing. City official s , local Housing Authority, and the Regional Housing Authority, together with local business people, civic groups, communic a tions media, we_r e all inv olved. The proj e ct includ es 800 living units, 150 for elderly, shopping center, community and health facilities, city park, recreation areas and the dedication of school sit es . An example of com.rnu.t1.ity s1_1pport involves the four leading banks in Atlanta who formed a consortium to finance the inte ri1n construction costs in an effort to assist in the solution of Atlanta 1 s housing problems for its low-income citi ze ns. This dev e lopment represents the highes t type of coope r ation among city, busine ss, government interagency planning and implementation - a model community effort. Your pr esence h e r e on this occasion, therefor e , w ould se rv e to g iv e strength to the solution of the many diffi c ult problems we still face in Atlanta and to spotlight one of the l andmark public housing developments in America. Thos e of us who are faced with the community l evel problems of l eadership are thankful that you are in the crucial position at HUD. Sincerely yours~ Ivan Allen, Jr. Mayor IAJr :fy cc: M r . E d wa rd B axt e r �