Buncombe County has selected a development partner for a $74.5 million affordable housing project in downtown Asheville’s South Slope.
The project aims to convert county-owned buildings on Coxe Avenue – which once housed election services and an ID bureau — into 206 affordable units.
Units will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units, some of which will be styled like townhomes. Renters will be approved based on their income, with a stipulation that all residents earn between 20% of the Area Median Income and 80% – meaning households that make between $13,000 and $67,000.
At last night’s Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting, officials unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Raleigh-based developer Harmony Housing.
Such an agreement is nonbinding but is the “starting point for advancing towards a development agreement,” Matt Card, of the county’s Community Development Division, explained.
“It outlines the basic framework and the goals for moving the project forward and it helps ensure a basic comfort level between partners on this project,” he said.
Harmony Housing was one of nine developers who applied last summer to work with the county on the project. It is also developing a property in New Bern and has built a 70-unit project for seniors in Hudson, N.C., and a 132-unit complex in Charlotte.
The county has committed $9.8 million to the project. The developer expects government subsidies will fund the majority of the building rehabilitation and housing development. Low Income Housing Tax Credits at 4 and 9% are estimated to provide more than $67 million.
“I really want to commend this commission and former chair Newman for having the foresight and the vision to look at county-owned land to utilize to address our affordable housing crisis here in Buncombe County,” Chair Amanda Edwards said.
The county will lease the land to the developer at a “nominal rate,” according to a county presentation.
The space will also include retail storefronts, solar panels, rooftop gardens and shared green space.
Pre-development work, including environmental review, will get underway now that a developer is chosen. If all goes as planned, construction is expected to start in 2026 and wrap up in 2029.
Once construction begins, a portion of Sawyer Street – between Coxe Avenue and Ravenscroft Drive – will be permanently closed to cars.
Another tidbit
- Buncombe County weighed in on the state’s plan for the $1.4 billion it received in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery funds. Commissioners voted to submit comments on the plan, which include a request for more funding for rental assistance, agriculture recovery and small business grants.
Every first and third Tuesday, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meets at 200 College St., Room 326, in downtown Asheville beginning at 5 p.m. See the full recording and agenda of the March 19 meeting.
