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?' C ITY OF .ATLANT.A July 25, 1969 CITY HALL ATLANTA, GA. 30303 Tel. 522 -4463 Area Code 404 IVAN ALLEN, JR ., MAYOR R. EARL LANDERS , Administrative Assi stant 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, w e began in Atlanta a concentrated effort to stimulate the d e velopment of 16, 8 00 units of low and mod e rate income housing to provide safe and sanitary shelter for thousands of less fortunate citizens. This effort, call e d "The M a yor's H o using R e source s Pro g ram was support e d by the U. S. D e partme nt of Housin g and Urban D evelopment, private bank s, de v e lop e rs, churches , civic g roups and individual citizens at all l e vels. This program has produced i:esults. As of thi s dat e , 21, 013 of the five y e ar g o a l of 16, 800 un its have b ee n compl e ted, ar e under construction, or in plannin g . The most rec e nt status r e port 1s attached for your information. Within the n ext few week s, th e s in gl e mo s t si gn ifican t deve lopme nt g e nerated by o ur pro g rams w ill b e plac e d u n cl e r con s truction. It is the East L ake Me a d ow s turnke y p :;:oj ec t, w hich is th e lar ges t turnkey public hou s i ng d eve lopment i n A me rica with compr e h ens i ve community faciliti e s. B e cau se of t he s i gnifican c e of this u nde rt a kin g a nd b ec au se it e mbodi e s so many of th e asp e ct s of community housin g action which you so magnific entl y support, all of us in A tl anta - City Hall, th e buil ders , o ur housing o fficia l s, and citi ze n s in gene r a l - fee l that w e w a nt t o s h are t h e begi nn ing of thi s p roject w ith you . �Secretary Romney Page Two July 25, 1969 _., .. I have been asked to is sue you an official invitation from all of us to inaugurate construction of this 1nost im.portant housing development for poor people. If your schedule will pennit 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'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 course 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 officials, local Housing Authority, and the Regional Housing Authority, together with local business people, civic groups, communications media, were all involved. The project includes 800 living units, 150 for elderly, shopping center, community and health facilities, city park, recreation areas and the dedic a tiorl of school sit e s. A ~I"'!. example of t.:orrnn1..m ity support involves the four leading banks in Atlanta who formed a consortium to finance the interim construction costs in an effort to assist in the solution of Atlanta's housing problems for its low-income citizens. This development repres e nts the highest type of cooper a tion among city, business, government interagency pl a nning and implementation - a model community effort. Your presence her e on this occasion, therefore, would serve to give strength to the solution of the many difficult problems we still face in Atlanta and to spotlight one of the landmark public housing developments in America. Those of us who are faced w ith the community level problems of leadership are thankful th a t you are in the crucial position at HUD. Sincerely yours, Ivan Allen, Jr. Mayor IAJr:fy cc: Mr. E dwa rd B axt er �