Chapel Hill's Affordable Homes Plan

0:00Chapel Hill is tackling its housing crunch head-on by turning a 14-acre chunk of town-owned land into homestead gardens, a neighborhood of 87 permanently affordable homes. Construction kicked off earlier this month at 2,200 homestead road in the northwest part of town. These spots target folks earning 30-115% of the area's median income, which hits 126,000 to $100 for a family of four. Backed by partners like Kasa, Community Home Trust, Habitat for Humanity, and Self-Hell Ventures Fund, the project mixes one bedroom apartments with. Four bedroom town homes plus 181 parking spots. It's all walkable to bus stops, the Seymour Senior Center, parks in schools like Seawail Elementary, Smith Middle, and Chapel Hill High. Nearly 70% of renters here, about 5,700 households, are cost-burdened, shelling out over 30% of their income on rent.

1:00Another 3,700 are severely hit, spending half or more. Rents jumped over 23% since the pandemic, with median now at $2,000 a month. The town launched a five-year plan in 2023, pumping in $21 million so far to build 62 new units, Preserve 1, 161 more, and Back Partner projects. They've got another 1,300 affordable homes in the pipeline, including spots like Tanyard Branch Trace and Trinity Court. This push shows cities using public lands smartly to keep families rooted amid skyrocketing costs, setting a blueprint for stable neighborhoods. Everywhere. From your city, powered by AI, this is Durham News Today, I'm Corey with The Story.