A former extended-stay motel on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Peachtree Corners has been reborn as Crest Pointe Village, a 73-unit apartment community for seniors on tight incomes and young adults ages 18 to 24, including those leaving foster care. Residents are expected to start moving in next month, with rent capped at 30% of a resident's income and every unit built with its own kitchen and bathroom.
The project, led by the Gwinnett Housing Corporation, is described as Gwinnett County's first conversion of a hotel into permanent affordable housing, according to North Gwinnett Voice. The building was previously known as the Spring Swallow Lodge, and the county acquired the Jimmy Carter Boulevard property specifically for the conversion, per OCG News. As reported by WSB-TV, the project went from contract to opening in under two years, according to Lejla Prljaca.
Who Gets to Call It Home
Seniors 62 and older can stay at Crest Pointe Village permanently, while young adults 18 to 24 receive case managers to help with school or work, per the WSB-TV report. OneStreet Residential will manage the property, and the apartments all include full kitchens, according to North Atlanta Star. A nonprofit called Hope, Thrive, Support will assist residents with educational, employment and personal goals, the outlet reports.
Two young women who toured the building in February offered a glimpse of what it could mean. LaQuasha Williams, who was 21 and living in a youth shelter after aging out of foster care at the time, said the building made her feel she could gain stability after coming from nothing, per WSB-TV. Destiny Thomas, 19 at the time and living in the same shelter, had never been in foster care herself but said she did not think she would become anything. Both qualify to apply for apartments but must still pass screening, the station reports.
Why Gwinnett Built It This Way
Gwinnett County has one of the nation's largest concentrations of extended-stay hotels, according to the housing corporation, as cited by WSB-TV. That reality has long shown up in local data: a 2019 study in Norcross found that 84% of surveyed extended-stay residents considered the motel their actual place of residence, with most being local Gwinnett families, according to the City of Norcross. That same study found financial reasons were overwhelmingly why people moved into extended-stay motels in the first place, and that residents generally had jobs but could not afford the upfront costs of renting a traditional apartment. Nearly a third of those residents, 29%, were 55 or older, the city's report found.
Lejla Prljaca, speaking to WSB-TV, said the nonprofit considered the living conditions in extended-stay hotels unacceptable for families. She separately told Gwinnett County that Georgia graduates more than 700 foster youth every year and that 35% end up homeless within two years. The project is designed to give residents a chance to build skills for independent living, not just a roof, the county notes. Gwinnett commissioners established a 10-member Homelessness Task Force in June 2026 to evaluate strategies and make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners, per the same county account.
Paying For a $14.5 Million Project
The project cost about $14.5 million, or close to $200,000 per apartment, and drew funding from nearly 20 sources, with Gwinnett County serving as the biggest single investor, per WSB-TV. Other reporting on the project cites different figures: North Atlanta Star put the redevelopment cost at $15 million and said Gwinnett County supplied nearly half of that, with the Georgia Power Foundation contributing $25,000, while OCG News cited a total development cost of $14.5 million and an earlier Atlanta News First report estimated the project at $13.2 million. Karen Ramsey said the project aims to provide stability and an option to avoid excessive rents, according to WSB-TV. Prljaca added that unlimited funding would allow two or three similar projects each year.
The hotel-to-housing model playing out in Peachtree Corners isn't unique to Gwinnett. In Richardson, Texas, the City Plan Commission unanimously recommended rezoning on Oct. 20 that would allow the Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham to become Hudson Heights, according to Community Impact. That 1982-built hotel's 72 suites would become 36 studio and 36 one-bedroom apartments, with the developer estimating monthly rents of $950 to $1,000 for studios and $1,600 to $1,800 for one-bedrooms, and projecting the full renovation could wrap within a year.
