More than 200 units of affordable housing are one step closer to coming to downtown Asheville after the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 on March 18 to allow the county to negotiate with Harmony Housing to develop the county-owned property.
The county began talking about using the property at 50-52 Coxe Ave. and other county-owned parcels for affordable housing in 2023.
Last summer, the county received nine proposals from developers. County staff eventually recommended Raleigh-based Harmony Housing due to the company’s “focus on maximizing multifamily units, parking, commercial integration and other factors,” according to a Buncombe County press release.
According to a presentation by Matthew Card, a county community development analyst, the proposed development will include 206 mixed-income units with one, two or three bedrooms.
Eight units will be offered to extremely low-income residents who earn at or below 20% area median income ($13,087 or less for an individual), while 41 units will be offered for 80% AMI (as much as $52,350 for an individual). The bulk of the units, 110, will be offered at 60% AMI. Card said that the number and affordability of the units are subject to change. The project is estimated to cost $74.5 million.
“I really want to commend this Commission and former chair [Brownie] 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,” said Commissioner Chair Amanda Edwards. “This is a really exciting evening to be up here to take this vote.”
“I can’t speak highly enough about redeveloping our downtown, which is very much empty in a lot of ways,” added District 3 Commissioner Parker Sloan. “This is an exciting next step in revitalizing that part of our community.”
The agreement with Harmony Housing will establish each party’s responsibilities, milestones and start date.
The county set a goal to deliver at least 1,500 affordable rental units for low- and moderate-income households by 2030. Other county-owned properties that are slated to be turned into affordable housing include 30-80 Valley St., 180 Erwin Hills Road and the 645-unit Ferry Road development.
Recovery funding comments submitted
Commissioners reviewed comments and questions on a draft action plan for spending $1.4 billion in federal funding that the state received through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program to address long-term recovery efforts following Tropical Storm Helene.
Comments ranged from distributing money based on data showing how Helene affected housing; defining what projects are eligible for specific categories, such as communications resilience, flood mitigation and emergency sheltering; and funding small-business grants and agriculture recovery.
A final action plan will be submitted to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency before receiving federal funds from the CDBG-DR program.
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