Days numbered for Durham senior apartments, unless city and county step in
Thirty years ago, a 48-unit housing complex opened on wooded private property in north Durham, providing affordable units to low-income residents 55 and older.
The builders of the Carver Creek Campus agreed to income and age restrictions in exchange for the federal tax credit that helped finance the 1993 construction.
The restrictions lasted, as they often do, for 30 years — which means at the end of 2024, the older, low-income and mostly African-American residents who live there will be forced out.
But it doesn’t have to happen that way, said Russell Pierce, executive director of the nonprofit Housing for New Hope.
Housing for New Hope, which owns some neighboring property, is asking the county and city to come up with $6 million to buy Carver Creek.
That would let Carver Creek residents stay in their homes, and enable construction of a supportive housing complex across both properties in the long-term, Pierce said in a proposal to the Durham County Board of Commissioners.
“If we don’t take action, this will become market-rate property and the people who live here now will be evicted,” Commissioner Wendy Jacobs said, supporting the request.
What is supportive housing?
Pierce said Durham’s housing challenges are numerous:
- A significant loss of affordable housing options for the poorest residents (those making 30% or less of the area’s median income)
- Few landlords willing to work with people who have housing vouchers or complex needs
- A 105% increase in homelessness since 2020 according to annual counts of the local unsheltered population.
- Aging populations in supportive housing.
Supportive housing combines housing assistance with wrap-around services like job training, benefits counselors, and mental and physical health care.
Durham has 357 permanent supportive housing units, and a 2019 report found there’s a need for at least 500 more, Pierce said.
This site could accommodate about 60 additional units to the 48 there today. There are grocery stores and restaurants nearby, a covered bus stop on the property, walking paths through the surrounding woods, and easy access to Duke Health services.
“Why can’t we do something like this in Durham? We can see the need,” Pierce said.
Commissioners want to buy apartments
Commissioner Nimasheena Burns said if it were up to her, she’d give Housing for New Hope the money immediately.
“I don’t know why y’all look so nervous,” Burns said. “We’re on board.”
Commissioner Heidi Carter said she was unreservedly committed to the request. She sits on the Homeless Services Advisory Committee.
“For four years, I’ve been hearing at every meeting how perhaps our greatest gap in our continuum of care is for permanent supportive housing,” Carter said. “We should seize the moment.”
Commissioner Nida Allam said she was excited about the wraparound services and didn’t want to lose out on the opportunity.
“Right now, unfortunately, the jail is the largest provider of mental health services in Durham County,” Allam said.
Clock is ticking
Pierce said they hope the city and county will split the cost.
There’s a short time frame to make this happen, as Housing for New Hope is already under contract with the investors that own the land. They paid $75,000 in due diligence costs, but haven’t secured other funding.
Carver Creek Acquisition LLC, a company with a New York investment firm’s address, bought the property just over a decade ago for $1.8 million, county records show.
The company didn’t respond to questions from The N&O, but Pierce said they intend to sell, whether that’s to Housing for New Hope or someone else.
The Board of County Commissioners will likely take a vote Monday, May 8, and the City Council is expected to consider the matter in a May 18 work session.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
