A discussion of a public-private development deal turned heated during a meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Commission on Tuesday night. The project involves swapping public land near the current site of the Graduate Hotel for over seven million dollars in affordable housing funds and other benefits.

Several commissioners were unhappy with the student housing project led by Core Spaces, including Commissioner Tiffany Taylor, who represents the 3rd District. She said the project would push residents out of predominantly Black neighborhoods nearby.

“We don’t need big people coming like the Core group coming in making an economic donut,” she said during the meeting. “What an economic donut is, the haves are on the inside and have-nots are on the outside.”

District 10 Commissioner Mike Ham

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