Charlotte City Council considers nonprofit to manage affordable housing funds

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council is considering using a nonprofit to manage the $50 million voters approved for affordable housing.

Council members were in Raleigh Monday for their annual budget retreat at the Renaissance Hotel.

The $50 million for affordable housing is a record amount for the City Council. Mayor Vi Lyles has asked the private sector to match it. With that money, Councilman Greg Phipps said it is important the council gets the most out of it.

“This is the most we ever had. Just think if we stuck with the $15 million. We would be up a creek,” Phipps said.

The council heard the proposal from Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

LISC is offering to act as the fund manager for the council overseeing the $50 million from the city voters and the private sector’s contribution.

Currently, the private sector has committed to $21 million of a $50 million goal for the housing opportunity investment fund. The private sector’s philanthropic catalytic investments, including land donations and reduced lending rates, total $77.5 million.

Under the proposal, developers would bring projects to LISC. LISC would vet the projects while the city reviews their location. Ultimately LISC would provide the recommendation on whether the projects receive funding.

“I don't think it is a usurpation of any kind of control,” Phillips said.

There is no timeline for the proposal, which received mixed reactions from council members.

“The conversation I am most concerned about and most interested in is the city and our dollars because it was taxpayers that came out and supported it,” Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield said.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Affordable Housing Crisis]

Councilman Braxton Winston encouraged his colleagues to take chances. He said the affordable housing crisis requires new thinking and approaches. He is also hoping the council will move away from judging projects solely based on units.

“We need to allow ourselves to think really big,” Winston said.

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