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Charlotte investing in affordable homes for sale in addition to rentals

CHARLOTTE — For the first time, Charlotte is using Housing Trust Fund dollars to invest in affordable homes for sale in addition to rentals. The Charlotte City Council approved a $23 million investment in nearly 900 units on Monday night.

The city is investing $320,000 into a proposal to build 10 homes on Bishop Madison Lane off Beatties Ford Road. The homes will be priced between $260,000 and $275,000.

The city is also investing $704,000 to build duets in Druid Hills homes off Norris Avenue. The city said 22 homes will be built for prices between $209,000 and $250,000.

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“In our course of our city’s history, we have torn down a lot of homes,” Mayor Vi Lyles said. “I think we owe it to this community to build them back.”

This is the first time the city of Charlotte is using Housing Trust Fund money to go toward affordable housing units for sale. The city usually invests in rental units like the ones in the Renaissance West community. Lyles toured the community Tuesday with HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge. Fudge called Renaissance a model for the nation.

“This is a development that I think is second to none, and I have traveled an awful lot to see what we are doing with senior housing and low-income and moderate housing,” Fudge said.

The secretary said the city is smart to think about affordable homes for sale, in addition to units for rent. She said that it creates an opportunity for families to build generational wealth.

“Homes are our wealth,” she said. “It is what we pass down to our children and our children’s children, and so if we don’t ever create something that is going to give us wealth, it is just going to be a vicious cycle.”

Fudge said that often, leaders don’t do enough to encourage home-ownership.

[Millions proposed for affordable housing in Charlotte]

“There is a narrative in this country that everyone isn’t meant to own a home and I think it is untrue,” she said.

In addition to rental units, the city is also investing in renovations of two communities that already exist and are affordable. Those two complexes are Maple Way Apartments in Cotswold and Shamrock Gardens Apartments in Plaza Shamrock.

(Watch the video below: Nonprofit helping solve Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis by saving, moving homes)

Charlotte City Council’s Housing Trust Fund investments:

Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing and Anti-Displacement Efforts

  • Maple Way Apartments, 1012 McAlway Road: Ascent Housing and the Housing Impact Fund are developing 60 units for families with rents ranging from $675 to $900 per month. The city’s investment would be $1.4 million to help fund extensive exterior repairs and improvements.
  • Shamrock Gardens Apartments, 3779 Michigan Ave.: Ascent Housing and the Housing Impact Fund are developing 265 units with rents ranging from $450 to $600 per month. The city’s investment would be $6 million.

Affordable Homeownership Opportunities

  • Bishop Madison Homeownership, 1947 Bishop Madison Lane: Urban Trends Real Estate is developing 10 for-sale units with prices between $260,000 and $275,000. The city’s investment would be $320,000.
  • Druid Hills Legacy Duet Homes: DreamKey Partners is developing 22 for-sale units in the Druid Hills neighborhood with prices between $209,000 and $250,000. The city’s investment would be $704,000. Unlike a duplex, in which the building typically has a single owner and the two units are rented out, the units in a duet are sold separately.

Developments Requesting Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

  • Aldersgate Apartments, 3900 Shamrock Drive: Laurel Street Residential is developing 136 units for older adults and families, and with rents ranging from $415 to $1,445 per month. The city’s investment would be nearly $3 million.
  • Ballantyne Senior Apartments, 15201 Ballancroft Parkway: Laurel Street Residential is developing 82 units for older adults and with rents ranging from $420 to $1,440 per month. The city’s investment would be $4 million.
  • Eight and Tryon, 426 N. Tryon St.: Horizon Development Properties, the real estate development division of affordable housing nonprofit INLIVIAN, is developing 106 units for families and with rents ranging from $1,078 to $1,617 per month. The city’s investment would be $3.2 million.
  • Galloway Crossing, 8300 East W.T. Harris Blvd.: The Woda Group is developing 78 units for older adults and with rents ranging from $420 to $1,075. The city’s investment would be nearly $2.5 million.
  • Historic Nathaniel Carr, 2498 West Blvd.: The Paces Foundation is developing 120 units for older adults and with rents ranging from $404 to $1,426. The city’s investment would be $2.2 million.