Building Legacy: Valry at Cleveland Brings Affordable Homes to Southeast Atlanta

For Cecil Francis, the Valry at Cleveland project is deeply personal. Located in Southeast Atlanta, the project will create 32 affordable homes from a building vacant since 2018.

As principal of Stix and Stones, a small Atlanta-based developer committed to quality and affordability, Francis sees an opportunity to revive the vibrant, close-knit community he remembers from his youth.

“I grew up across the street, and I want the next generation to have an apartment that promotes education—that stands as a reminder of what hard work can achieve,” says Francis.

Francis and his mother, Valry.

Named after Francis’ mother, Valry at Cleveland embodies Stix and Stones’ core mission: affordability. The development will offer 32 two-bedroom homes, with rents capped at 50% of Area Median Income under a long-term land use agreement. At least 30% of the units will be even more accessible through voluntary participation in the Atlanta Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher Program.

As a teenager working at his father’s general contracting business, Francis saw that a quality place allows people to live better. “We’re building a place where families can afford to live and thrive,” commented Francis.

This commitment to affordability made partnering with Reinvestment Fund a natural fit. A mission-driven financial institution, Reinvestment Fund provides flexible, blended capital solutions that small developers often require to make affordable housing projects viable.

“At Reinvestment Fund, we want to show up as a partner and provide the right resources at the right time,” says McKenna Gosa, Director of Lending and Investing in the Southeast. “We’re able to structure deals that are favorable for smaller developers like Stix and Stones. With the Valry at Cleveland project, we partnered with Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. to structure a deal that kept rates low and reduced costs.”

For Francis, preserving affordability for future residents is important. “My first job was in this community, it’s where my family has its roots,” says Francis, “I want to pay it forward, making sure the savings benefit the families who will call Valry at Cleveland home.”

Valry at Cleveland will offer future tenants a place to grow. The surrounding neighborhood is changing, with a planned large-scale redevelopment of a former Ford manufacturing plant and a new shopping center. The property is adjacent to an elementary school and within walking distance of a library and will integrate into the social fabric of the existing neighborhood.

During negotiations with neighborhood and community leaders about the proposed development, Reinvestment Fund’s reputation as a nonprofit financial partner helped Francis build trust.

“I was able to point to Reinvestment Fund’s mission as a lead-up to talking about my own mission as a developer,” said Francis. “There’s just organically more trust when the lender is mission driven because they’re trying to uplift, not just to extract money from the community.”

As a small-scale developer who also serves as general contractor, Francis relishes the opportunity to build amenities that may not typically be offered to tenants in affordable housing.

“I focus on those extra details that bring people together. We’re putting in a firepit and picnic area that I know will be a gathering place for tenants in the future, and we’re being intentional in the landscaping design,” says Francis. “I want to honor my mom’s legacy in this project. It’s an added sense of responsibility to build something that can stand proud as a monument to her.”

For Francis, Valry at Cleveland is more than housing, it’s a promise. A promise that quality and affordability can coexist, and that communities can thrive when developers build with heart. It’s a legacy project, and for Stix and Stones, it sets the standard for what’s to come.

Valry at Cleveland is slated to open in February 2027.