GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County nonprofit broke ground Wednesday on a project that will transform a rundown extended-stay hotel into 73 permanently affordable apartments, the county’s first hotel conversion of its kind.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The former Spring Swallow Lodge on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Peachtree Corners will be redeveloped into Crest Point Village, a new community targeting two populations that housing advocates say are consistently left behind: seniors on fixed incomes and young adults aging out of foster care.
Laquasha Williams, 21, was among the first to tour the units Wednesday. She aged out of foster care and has been living in a youth shelter after a security guard pointed her to a program when she showed up at a Gwinnett DFCS office facing homelessness.
“I haven’t spoke to my family in 10 years, so it feels like you’re pushed out into the world,” Williams said.
After walking through the nearly renovated unit, she said the experience shifted something in her.
“It makes you feel like you can get stability one day when you came from nothing,” she said.
Destiny Thomas, 19, was there alongside her. Thomas was never in the foster care system, but still ended up homeless and in the same youth shelter as Williams.
“I didn’t think I was going to be anything,” Thomas said. “I didn’t think I was going to have any money.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ponzi scheme investigation: Prominent Georgia Republican fined $500K, referred for possible charges
- Secretary dies while working at Cobb County elementary school
- Metro Atlanta jewelry store raid part of multi-state fraud investigation
Tami Wilder, CEO of Positive Impact International, runs Gwinnett’s only emergency youth shelter, where both Williams and Thomas are currently staying, and has watched the gap widen for years.
Her organization serves unhoused young people ages 12 through 21, and she says the moment a young person turns 18, the system effectively disappears.
“When they turn 18, they’re no longer considered a child, but they still are kids,” Wilder said. “Finally, someone’s listening. Finally, our kids are not going unseen.”
The Gwinnett Housing Corporation is leading the $14.5 million redevelopment, which will convert the hotel’s existing rooms into studios and one-bedroom units ranging from 450 to 650 square feet. Each will include a full kitchen and modern finishes.
Out of all the units, 45 will serve young adults ages 18 to 24. An additional 28 units will house seniors age 55 and older, many living on fixed incomes of $19,000 a year or less.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson said the project pushes back on the idea that affordable housing means cutting corners.
“You don’t have to sacrifice luxury to have affordability,” Hendrickson said. “It’s a model that works. It brings luxury, affordable units to the community.”
Hendrickson said she wants to see the model replicated across the county.
“I don’t want this to be the last,” Hendrickson said. “I want to see other cities partnering with the county to bring something like this to those communities.”
According to a Gwinnett Housing Corporation study, Gwinnett has more extended-stay hotels than any other county in Georgia, and housing advocates say many have quietly functioned as housing of last resort for people with nowhere else to go.
Crest Point Village is expected to open in Fall 2026.
Beyond the apartment itself, residents will get financial counseling, job training, health screenings and a case manager on-site.
©2026 Cox Media Group
