Putting hope into housing

Brains behind nonprofit has affordable solution

Nancy Murray is a doer.

When the Montessori Middle School in Durham wanted a 2-mile nature trail last summer, Murray jumped on a front-end loader and began clearing underbrush and trees.

When the contractor building an addition on her home got behind, Murray grabbed a nail gun and began installing baseboards and trim. When she heard that homes slated for demolition were free to anyone who would move them, she moved them -- and figured out a way to turn them into affordable homes.

"There's very little she won't try," says John Jenkins, who was the contractor on her home addition job and now is construction manager for Builders of Hope. The nonprofit group set up Murray to fix and sell the homes she's moving. "She'll tackle any kind of project."

Murray, 40, is moving those homes to land she owns on the outskirts of Southeast Raleigh. They'll get new wiring, plumbing and siding before being sold at below-market rates to buyers who earn less than $65,000, the median income in Raleigh for a family of two.

"There's a crisis in affordable housing right now," says Murray as she scrambles up a ladder to show a visitor the gutted interior of one of the houses.

She points out that houses in Raleigh have gotten too expensive for workers like teachers and police officers, forcing many to rent or commute from homes in Zebulon and Knightdale.

"These are great citizens in service jobs, but they're being penalized because the cost of housing is higher than their income and they're having to live elsewhere," Murray says. "That's where I come in."

When she's done, Barrington Village, off Poole Road, will have 24 homes. North Hills developer John Kane donated six houses, and five more are on the way from other developers.

Murray expects sales to begin in a few months with prices ranging from $89,000 for a small two-bedroom to $149,000 for a five-bedroom. The average single-family resale in Wake County costs $256,521, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises.

Murray didn't start out to be a developer. The slender blonde with a wide grin spent years in sales and advertising working with accounts such as Coca-Cola and Kellogg's cereal. Her husband's job with IBM brought her to Raleigh in 1996. The demands of raising a family -- and a temporary move to Australia for her husband's job -- eventually caused her to quit advertising.

She switched to real estate after her father died in 2003. He was an IBM executive but he also dabbled in a small townhouse development in Florida. After his death, Murray and her two brothers took it over and have developed more small, upscale townhouse projects.

Helping others also is something else she picked up from her dad, who frequently contributed money to help build churches, she says.

"My faith is really important to me," says Murray, who attends Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. That helps explain why she and her husband in 2001 adopted a 6-year-old orphan, Anna, from Kazakhstan, part of the former Soviet Union. The Murrays also have three sons.

"The Bible teaches you to care for the orphans and the widows," Murray says. Providing low-cost homes is another way to help, she says. "I'm providing a better choice than they have now -- most people rent," she says.

But don't get in her way. City officials found that out after Murray thought they were taking too long to approve plans for Barrington Village. Planner Eric Hodge got an e-mail message from Murray accusing him and others of "operating under the squeaky-wheel policy."

"I don't deny she's doing a good project," Hodge says, "but her dealings with staff have been less than pleasant." He says the review took longer than usual because lots were oddly proportioned and several departments had to sign off on plans.