Hardin Construction Hard at Work on Another Green Affordable Seniors Housing Project

Smyrna, Ga.–Work is underway on Hardin Galleria Manor of Smyrna, an 88-unit affordable seniors housing project in Smyrna, Ga. that is being designed to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver certification. Hardin Construction Company and joint venture partner Chap Ashmore & Associates, two experts in green construction, are building the apartment community on behalf of The Paces Foundation, a non-profit community housing development corporation.

Galleria Manor sits near I-75 and I-285 within close proximity to Cobb Galleria Center and Cumberland Mall. Going green, particularly for affordable housing endeavors, can present a financial challenge, but through a great deal of experience, Hardin has mastered the art of building a sustainable project on a limited budget. “There is a long checklist of LEED points we can choose from, so we put our heads together and we find the ones that are going to help the project for the long term at the best value,” Nevin Anderson, project manager with Hardin, tells MHN.

The architectural firm of Martin Riley Associates P.C. is behind the design of the four-story Galleria Manor, which will be Pace’s second affordable seniors apartment complex in Georgia to achieve LEED certification status. Pace’s first such project, the 48-unit Whitehall Manor in Cleveland, Ga., which Hardin also built, garnered the title of Georgia’s first LEED Gold-certified affordable seniors housing development last year. “We think more developers of affordable seniors projects should seek LEED certification,” he says. “It makes for a more efficient, longer-lasting community overall.”

Anderson anticipates that Galleria Manor and Whitehall Manor will soon be joined by a bevy of developments in Georgia’s LEED-certified affordable seniors housing category. “Because LEED has become more popular, prices have come down for certain materials because they’re more readily available and they are more in demand.”

Galleria Manor is on track to open its doors to low-income renters 55 years and older in the summer of this year.