DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The latest project to create affordable housing in DeKalb County is nearing completion.

Alicia Dawkins believes in keeping it real.

“I’m one of those people that it’s not real until it’s ‘real’ real,” Dawkins said.

And now it is.

It’s in the heart of Dekalb County’s East Lake community.

The nonprofit East Lake Foundation made it possible.

“We have been very intentional about what we bring here, what we build here, and who lives here,” Foundation CEO Ilham Askia said.

She is supervising the completion of the first phase of a 40-unit townhome project.

Channel 2 Action News was there back in March of 2023 when they broke ground.

The Foundation, The Atlanta Land Trust, and the PGA Tour have invested $3 million to bring affordable housing to the community.

This week, pro golfers from the PGA Tour are in town playing at nearby East Lake Golf Club.

Dawkins is a first-time homebuyer and she’s grateful that the East Lake Foundation is keeping it real.

“It has been years since anybody has seen a home for under half a million dollars around here. So, to get a new build, 3 bedrooms, 2 and a half baths, for this unit is $215,000. That’s unheard of,” Dawkins said.

The first eight families will move into their new townhomes at The Trust at East Lake in October.