Hillcrest

East Point, GA

Affordability for Active Adults

Hillcrest is located in East Point, GA, just outside the bustle of Atlanta. This property is HUD subsidized and offers active seniors in the area a beautiful, serene lifestyle with all the bells and whistles (but without the market rate rents). With two sites across the street from one another, they needed to feel like part of the same family but stand apart with their use of exterior colors and materials.

Homes to be Proud Of

Just like with any subsidized project, we had a tighter budget to work with on Hillcrest. However, we didn’t cut down on our own internal design process. We knew we could make this property as beautiful and impressive as our typical product and still meet the demands of the contract. We also wanted to provide residents with a place that they could be proud to bring friends and family home to, with outdoor areas impeccably landscaped and a curved trellis in the two-level courtyard that’s surrounded by a four story u-shaped building.

In addition, we spared no expense with amenities, including social nooks to keep people engaged and a community garden. Inside the building, we wanted to provide ample space to make sure residents can fill their day with age-appropriate activities, including a “social expressions” room for unique programming, an arts & crafts center, a media center and a fitness center.

Lessons Learned

The site sits across from a cemetery so the Owners were very cognizant of this and wanted to make sure residents didn’t have to stare at a cemetery all day. With that in mind, we designed the building to look inward into the courtyard, rather than outward onto the street. There was also a 12 foot slope that required designing the building to step down into the courtyard, which also has gently sloping pathways to make it easy for people to walk about.