On church-owned land in Stonecrest, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has broken ground on New Birth Village, a faith-anchored affordable housing community that organizers say could eventually bring roughly 390 homes to DeKalb County. Phase 1 is slated to deliver about 87 houses, even as more than 3,000 people remain on a waiting list, and church leaders are pitching the project as a way to expand homeownership and build generational wealth for local families.
“To be able to build affordable houses right in the heart of DeKalb County, and for the church to be the anchor says that something significant is taking place,” Pastor Jamal Bryant said at the June 21 ceremony. As reported by WSB-TV, Bryant added that “home ownership is the anchor for generational wealth in America.” The groundbreaking drew local officials and residents who said the project is meant to create housing pathways for teachers, nurses and seniors who are being priced out of nearby neighborhoods.
What New Birth Village Will Include
Church leaders and partners say the plan will convert roughly 35 acres into a mixed-use neighborhood with cottage-style homes, multifamily buildings and small-scale retail. According to Black Enterprise, New Birth is contributing the land and positioning the development as a faith-anchored public-private partnership aimed at middle-income buyers.
The project's master plan and prototype designs were created with architecture firm TSW. The firm says the layout incorporates “micro-home” prototypes, walkable streets and greenspace to help keep prices more attainable, and TSW describes the effort as a phased buildout that can scale over time.
Approvals and timeline
Stonecrest planning documents show the project team has filed rezoning case RZ25-009 for the parcel at 6370 Woodrow Road, putting New Birth Village into the city's formal review pipeline as listed on the Planning Commission agenda. Those public dockets spell out the conditions the developer must meet before permits can be issued and identify any variances, buffers and infrastructure work the city will require. The meeting records are available to the public in the city's agenda materials.
Developers say construction will move forward in phases, with significant predevelopment and infrastructure work needed before any families can move in. Formal permitting and funding commitments are still in progress, so Sunday's ceremonial shovels mark a starting line rather than a finish date.
Why it matters
Project organizers point to the roughly 3,000-name waitlist as a sign of intense local demand for ownership opportunities - a demand housing advocates say county tools are only beginning to meet. DeKalb County has moved to increase its Affordable Housing Fund and is exploring a Housing Investment Bond to boost production, according to local housing advocates and nonprofit partners. Supporters say New Birth Village is also meant to serve as a model for how large land-owning institutions can turn their property into long-term community assets.
Project leaders say they plan to prioritize outreach, down-payment assistance and home-buyer education for nearby residents as the work moves ahead. For now, the June 21 groundbreaking is a public signal that New Birth and its partners are all-in on the vision, but the actual delivery of the promised homes will hinge on permitting, financing and the phased schedule laid out in city documents.
