On October 26, rapper T.I. shared a sneak peek via Instagram into his newest project, an affordable housing development located in Bankhead, Atlanta.
The artist shared a clip of the building site and talked about what folks should expect from the development.
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“Checking up on my development in Bankhead right here,” the rapper said in his video. “We’ve got affordable housing, 143 units going up. Mixed-use community. We about 40 percent done; we supposed to be done sometime next year.”
The housing project features community amenities such as a garden, a greenhouse, and a community center.
“This is our first project that’s a development—proud of it,” T.I. said.
The project is located where a shooting center used to be and where T.I. said he would often frequent with his grandmother.
The rapper then called out other artists and celebrities who are also from the city and said, “Since everybody’s somewhat from here, let’s see what you done did for here, ya dig?”
The rapper told Inc. Magazine in 2018 that the goal of T.I.’s project is to fight gentrification taking place in the neighborhood that inflates living costs.
“…I didn’t want it to be one of those situations where luxury condos go up, and people who are native are pushed out to the fringes because they can’t afford to live there. I wanted to provide development that would allow people from the area, who love the community, to be able to afford to stay,” he said.
“Green spaces and gardens are incredibly important,” T.I. said. “We want a movie theater, bowling, laser tag, stuff I didn’t have. I’m trying to build a community where the people within it can be proud. If they’re proud, they’ll have more of a sense of wanting to maintain it.”
“I’d love to see children walk and play and live in green spaces,” he continued. “I want to see senior citizens excited about the next generation. The only way to do that is to invest. Why wait for someone else to come into a community where I went to elementary school, where I rode my bike and played?”
According to Black Enterprise, the Atlanta-raised artist grew up in the Center Hill neighborhood near Bankhead Highway, where his development is built.
