Raleigh affordable housing projects progress with city funding

Habitat for Humanity's Old Poole Place.Photo byCourtesy

By Mia Khatib

mia.khatib@triangletribune.com

RALEIGH — The City of Raleigh has been investing millions to progress ongoing affordable rental and homeownership projects in the city. Here’s what’s coming up soon.

Raleigh Area Land Trust and Raleigh Raised Development have partnered to bring 18 affordable units, four of which are rentals, to the Idlewild community. Executive director Kevin Campbell told The Tribune there’s longstanding racial discrimination around housing, and this project is an effort to help right the wrongs of the past.

“Idlewild was a historic community of African American homeownership that has kind of fallen off over time, so we're excited to be able to bring them back,” he said. “We're going to really give attention to tracking people that are from the neighborhood or if you have historical ties to the neighborhood and you'd like to come back.”

The units will be arranged in a cottage court design, a first for the city, with homes facing one another and overlooking a shared greenspace rather than the street. Seven of the homes will be sold to people at 50% of the area median income and below.

Campbell, who came into the role in November, said it’s the land trust model that helps make this possible. RALT homebuyers save on land purchase and taxes, as the land stays in the organization’s ownership, and are guaranteed a 1.5% yearly appreciation on their home to help build equity.

“Homeownership has that dual mission of providing a place to live and providing the main vehicle for wealth creation that has really escaped a lot of these communities,” he said.

Raleigh recently approved $700,000 in conditional gap funding for the project, and RALT is seeking an additional $770,000 loan from Wake County. The Cottages of Idlewild are expected to break ground this summer, and all units will be completed in 2025.

Habitat for Humanity of Wake County’s Old Poole Place is also progressing. The 114-unit community will include single-family homes and townhomes for low- to moderate-income families.

Wake County has committed $2.4 million to fund the land acquisition and infrastructure of 50 of the units, as well as five HFH units in Wendell. And the city recently sold additional land to the organization for $1, which will house nine more townhomes in the subdivision than initially proposed.

“We will be able to connect directly to Poole Road from that, allowing our families access to transportation which is huge,” CEO Patricia Burch told The Tribune. “Transportation is the second highest cost for families outside of housing typically.”

Like RALT, HFH is partnering with DHIC to provide homebuyer and home maintenance education to residents. So far, around 30 homes have been completed, sold or are under construction at Old Poole Place, and the neighborhood will be complete in three years.

Homebuyer Raygan Hansley said her rent has leaped nearly $600 since 2020, and she’s struggled to purchase a home through the traditional market. Habitat for Humanity’s program requires 200 hours of sweat equity instead of a down payment, which Hansley said helps save money and gives her a sense of pride by contributing to the building of her community.

“By going through Habitat, not only for the financial assistance part of it, it also gives you the educational toolkit that you need to understand what it means to be a homeowner. It's not just having the house, it's what it takes to maintain the home,” she said.

Raleigh also approved $5 million for Battle Bridge, a 200-unit affordable senior housing project. The one- and two-bedroom units will be arranged in a fourplex design for people 55 and older earning between 30% and 80% of the AMI.

East Carolina Community Development Inc. is the project developer. President and CEO Keith Walker told The Tribune they will accept housing vouchers, and 10% of the units will be reserved for people with disabilities.

“It turns out that a lot of our elderly are starting to show they're aging in place, and there's a caregiver who might come in and spend time with them as they need more assistance,” he said. “It will be in that $800 a month down to $400 a month, depending upon if they have a voucher or not. Rents will go up, rents will go down depending on assistance subsidy.”

Construction could begin early next year.

Mia Khatib, who covers affordable housing and gentrification, is a Report for America corps member.