CHARLOTTE — Charlotte City councilmembers approved nearly $20 million to cover cost overruns for eight previously approved affordable housing projects. The funds will come from COVID-19 relief dollars and the voter-approved Housing Trust Fund.
Leaders already spent millions on these eight projects. Developers of these projects asked for more funding to cover “extraordinary market conditions.” The approval means more than 700 affordable housing units will be able to be built.
“I know we do not have the money to solve every issue that we have in front of us, but I feel like the most responsible thing we can do with what we have to allocate, is to make an impact where we can,” said District 5 Councilwoman Marjorie Molina.
Three other previously approved projects with funding gaps did not receive city funding. The city says it will keep talking to the developers, who may come back later.
At-Large Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera says the additional funding shows how important building affordable housing is to Charlotte but warns this issue will keep coming up.
“We are talking about cost escalation for the last two or three weeks now,” said Ajmera. “I see this is not going to go away.”
District 6 Councilman Tariq Bokhari says the city needs to rethink its affordable housing strategy. He said the city continues to throw large amounts of money at the priority with little return.
“We have to get more strategic in what we do and that means taking hard lines,” he said. “We want to solve for and we know the current approach isn’t doing anything and this is one of them.”
In exchange for the additional funding, the developers are extending the amount of time they are committed to keeping the homes affordable.
Approved projects:
Fairhaven Glen
8329 Nations Ford Road
140 Units
$1.15 million
Ovata at Reedy Creek
9729 Newell Hickory Grove Road
78 Units
$2 million
Galloway Crossing
8300 E. W.T. Harris Blvd.
78 Units
$1 million
Ballantyne Seniors
15201 Ballancroft Parkway
82 Units
$1.4 million
Evoke Living @ Morris Field
3628 Morris Field Drive
132 Units
$5.5 million
Bishop Madison Homes
1947 Bishop Madison Lane
9 Units
$250,000
Grounds for Change
3420 Park Road
104 Units
$4.5 million
South Village Apartments
3655 Dewitt Lane
82 Units
$4.7 million
[ ALSO READ: Habitat for Humanity uses city ordinance to help build affordable housing ]
Unfunded projects
The River District
8325 Dixie River Road
124 Units
$6.15 million
Lakewood Apartments
2732 Watson Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208
36 Units
$800,000
Easter Home
1615 E. Fifth St.
21 Units
$1.9 million