Matt Reynolds, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Journalist Profile

Articles

Atlanta aims to ‘eliminate’ downtown homelessness by 2026 World Cup

2 weeks ago | ajc.com | Reed Williams |Matt Reynolds

Partners for HOME, the nonprofit agency that implements the city of Atlanta’s homeless strategy, is leading an ambitious effort to endhomelessness in the downtown area ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup. According to a draft document reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the city wants to house 400 unsheltered people by the end of 2025.
Residents of southwest Atlanta apartments say they face illegal evictions

2 weeks ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

When Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law 2024’s Safe at Home Act, it was meant to protect tenants against the worst excesses of landlords who rent neglected apartments. A little over a year later, tenants at Bolden Townhomes in southwest Atlanta don’t seem to be benefiting from the meager protections the state law granted Georgia residents. Instead, some say they were told to vacate their homes with unsafe conditions because they had been accused of squatting.
What is an assumable mortgage? How a little-known home loan can help Atlantans

3 weeks ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

During the 2022 frenzied, pandemic-era home buying spree of cash offers, waived inspections and offers over asking price, high school teachers Anslie and Stephen Spitler took their first tentative steps into a sizzling metro Atlanta housing market. Like other middle-income Atlantans at the time, the couple faced intense competition and rising interest rates in a Southern city once considered among the nation’s most affordable.
Investors now own 30% of metro Atlanta’s single-family rental homes, data shows

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff unveiled research Wednesday on the impact of out-of-state companies buying up Georgia homes for rental properties, as he continues to focus attention on the impact of institutional investors as part of a federal probe.
Georgia high court weighs limits on tenant claims against housing authorities

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a closely watched case to decide if housing authorities in the state are shielded from liability when tenants sue them over violent crime or other dangerous conditions. Christina Guy, a former tenant at the Dogwood Terrace apartment complex in downtown Augusta, sued the city’s housing authority in the summer of 2022 after she was shot in the leg on her front porch during an armed robbery the previous November, according to court records.
Ossoff launches investigation into corporate takeover of Atlanta housing market

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said Wednesday he is investigating corporate landlords and out-of-state companies buying up single-family homes in bulk, with inquiries to four major players to gauge their footprint and impact on the affordability and availability of housing in the state.
Atlanta restarts homeless encampment sweeps after pause

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

The city of Atlanta resumed homeless encampment sweeps Monday after a 45-day moratorium caused by the death of a homeless man crushed by heavy construction equipment during a January city sweep. The closure of the large homeless encampment beneath the I-75/I-85 overpass on Pryor Street in downtown Atlanta began at 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to the mayor’s office.
Judge won’t halt government’s case against owner of Atlanta apartments

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

An Ohio judge has ruled against Millennia Housing Management after the national affordable housing company — which owns the condemned Forest Cove apartments in Atlanta — argued that federal enforcement proceedings against it are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster sided with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday, finding the court does not have jurisdiction to decide the company’s constitutional claims.
Affordable housing proposals for Bankhead sought by Beltline

1 month ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

Atlanta Beltline Inc. officials said Monday they are seeking proposals to help build affordable single-family housing on the largest property it owns in the city. The Beltline acquired the 31-acre tract of land at 425 Chappell Road in Bankhead and Historic Westin Heights in 2021, for $25.6 million from home builder Brock Built Homes. In the years since, officials have pushed a mixed-use vision for the site, located half a mile south of the Bankhead MARTA station.
More Atlanta home sellers are offering buyer concessions as market shifts

2 months ago | ajc.com | Matt Reynolds

Sellers in metro Atlanta offered concessions to buyers in 62% of home sales in the first quarter of 2025 — an increase of about 5 percentage points over the same period last year, indicating another tilt in the real estate market toward buyers, according to real estate brokerage firm Redfin. The new report found that metro Atlanta has one of the largest concession rates in the country, behind only Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.