Durham Tech to build affordable housing on South Briggs Avenue near campus
Like a lot of her fellow students, Shima Earls has not always known where she and her family were going to live while she attends Durham Technical Community College. A plan announced Tuesday to build new and affordable housing units will help students like her, she said.
“I am a mother of four and have been housing insecure as a student at Durham Tech,” Earls said as the college announced plans to build a 124-unit housing complex on South Briggs Avenue. “This initiative will have a huge impact on students like me and on community members who need a safe, stable place to live and raise our families.”
Durham Tech President J.B. Buxton announced plans for the apartments, which will be available to eligible students and other Durham residents.
Durham Tech has more than 5,400 students. A survey of over 700 students at the college by Temple University’s Hope Center found half experienced “some form of housing insecurity” in 2018. Nearly 1 in 5 reported being homeless over the course of that year.
Durham’s affordable housing effort
In 2019, Durham passed a $95 million affordable housing bond with support from 76% of the voters, the largest housing bond in the history of North Carolina.
Between local and federal tax dollars, the city has a $160-million, five-year plan to put and keep people in homes they can afford.
“We have gotten ourselves to the place where we have just submitted the application for the financing we are going to need to pull this project across the finish line,” Buxton said.
Durham Tech’s university foundation established Durham Tech Properties LLC in 2020 to help lead the $29 million project. The development company is partnering with Mosaic Development Group and Banc of America Community Development Company.
According to Buxton, the $5.4 million grant the college applied for in January is “critical” to the project. The money will be distributed from the city’s affordable housing bond if the application is approved by city officials.
“This affordable housing initiative delivers on Durham Tech’s commitment to be part of this community’s solution to address housing insecurity and homelessness,” Buxton said.
“We believe this project will be transformative for our students and for members of our broader community who need affordable housing,” he said.
The development is expected to be completed by the fall of 2024, and a series of community engagement meetings will be held at the college to get feedback on the project in the coming months.
Announcements will be made on the college’s Affordable Housing Initiative webpage. Community members also can subscribe to receive email updates about Durham Tech’s affordable housing initiative.
“Affordable housing is a top priority in Durham,” said Michael Page, a Durham Tech board member, in a news release. “With housing costs continuing to rise and impact affordability, it is important that community institutions step up to be part of the solution,”
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 4:53 PM.