Where affordable housing should be built in Charlotte is a perennial debate, even as the region continues to suffer from an acute shortage across the board.
Getting developers to build housing for the poorest residents in the most expensive areas has always been a challenge. In Charlotte, the city subsidizes construction and renovation of affordable housing where units are income-restricted.
Since 2002 Charlotte’s Housing Trust Fund has spent nearly $219 million to support 139 projects, totaling 10,818 affordable units and 888 shelter beds. The fund uses bonds voters approve every two years.
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Affordable housing built with Charlotte’s Housing Trust Fund since 2002
Multiple factors contribute to where a development goes, including local and federal policies and neighborhood support or opposition.
Federal policies for building affordable housing have had a significant impact on where it’s built in Charlotte.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has long incentivized building affordable housing in census tracts already home to low-income residents. In Charlotte, those are neighborhoods largely on the city’s west, north and east sides, often called “the crescent.”
Subsequent federal policies added bonuses to build in “difficult to develop,” high income areas, where land is more expensive. That is more in line with local Charlotte priorities to build housing in areas of high opportunity, close to employment, transit and other amenities.
What about South Charlotte?
Affordable housing in the city’s “wedge,” the affluent slice of south Charlotte, has been notoriously scarce. While some members of city council have noted that few projects are developed in south Charlotte’s districts 6 and 7, there is disagreement about what should be done about it.
Council members Malcolm Graham and Dimple Ajmera said at a meeting last April that more work should be done to spread out housing trust fund projects across the city. Ajmera said she’d support spending more per project to make that happen.
But council member Tariq Bokhari, at a meeting later that month, said land costs make building in those areas so expensive, and council should consider if it’s worth it if more units can be built elsewhere for less money.
Recent developments such as 82 affordable senior apartments in Ballantyne have been approved, though they represent a small share of overall units.
Read more at The Charlotte Observer
This story is part of I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte.