T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures, a real estate development organization founded by Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas has obtained key approval from the city of Atlanta to proceed with its plan to build residences, retail, offices, and a senior living community on the site of a former U.S. Army base.
Jakes, who in addition to pastoring The Potter’s House oversees the nonprofit organizations T.D. Jakes Ministries and the T.D. Jakes Foundation and the for-profit organizations T.D. Jakes Enterprises and T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures, announced in April that he would be partnering with Wells Fargo to build mixed-income housing in underserved communities.
The partnership will span 10 years, and Wells Fargo has committed to giving up to $1 billion in capital and financing for building projects, as well as grants from the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Jakes’ goal is to revitalize neighborhoods and provide opportunities for upward mobility to those who have historically been overlooked and marginalized.
Fort McPherson, the site where the first development is planned, closed in 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure plan. Another part of the site was purchased by actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry and is now the home of Tyler Perry Studios.
In an appearance on CBS Mornings earlier this year, Jakes explained his vision behind the project.
“I think it’s imperative. The fierce urgency of ‘now’ indicates to us the fact that the future looks very bleak,” said Jakes, “particularly for minorities—Black people, brown people, and also poor white people who are finding it difficult…to find a job, to find opportunities to get housing, to get upward mobility.”
Jakes is hoping to create “communities that are built in repressed neighborhoods and revitalize the community, giving the homeowners who live there, or people who lived in the community, a chance to stay there for affordable rates.”
Construction on Jakes’ mixed-income community is set to begin in early 2024, according to CoStar News. The Fort Mac Local Redevelopment Authority has signed off on the development plan for the 95-acre property.
