City-owned land will be base for Raleigh affordable-housing push
As the city drafts a new plan to create affordable housing, it will have to decide how to use one of its most valuable assets: Land.
The city government for decades has acquired residential lots east of downtown Raleigh, hoping to bring new development to neighborhoods and, more recently, to keep homes affordable as that development happens.
In the past, the city has offered up its land for building by companies that promise to limit rents. That program has produced more than 100 units between Person Street and Haywood Street, plus far more across the city. The city also has spent $1 million per year recently to buy and demolish “blighted” housing, while relocating residents to other areas.
Now the affordable-housing effort is pushing farther east.
▪ One of the city’s first priorities is East College Park, where the government owns significant portions of 10 blocks. Larry Jarvis, director of neighborhoods and housing, hopes to have lots available for construction by outside groups beginning as early as February, pending the completion of infrastructure upgrades and a study of the real-estate market.
The city likely will create a mixed-income community, where at least 51 percent of homeowners have low to moderate income, and it will help them rehabilitate their properties. The nonprofit developer DHIC also is redeveloping the Washington Terrace property that it owns just to the north.
▪ This summer, the city will open lots near the north end of Idlewild Avenue for development. Jarvis plans to issue a “request for proposals” for 39 lots near the avenue, where the city wants to see homes built for sale to households with income at or below 80 percent of the area median income, about $50,000 for a family of four.
“They’re finished lots, and they’re ready to build on,” Jarvis said.
▪ In the next few years, Raleigh will look toward a neighborhood-level revitalization project in South Park, similar to its current effort in East College Park. The city owns about a dozen properties along Sawyer Road, just northwest of the Walnut Creek Walnut Center, that Jarvis wants to redevelop. Raleigh also may pursue new land in South Park and near Garner Road, and may provide funding for private developers to pursue their own projects.
“We want to make sure we have a broad range of housing opportunities for all incomes,” Jarvis said.
The city’s current plans, Jarvis said, could play out over five to eight years.
This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "City-owned land will be base for Raleigh affordable-housing push."