Council reviews $6.25 million in supportive-housing proposals; seeks clearer operations, access and monitoring details

Charlotte City Council members on Oct. 13 discussed two supportive-housing proposals that staff recommended for funding from the city's housing trust allocations.

The council considered (1) a Mecklenburg County hotel conversion to provide non-congregate emergency shelter with 62 rooms and on-site medical and behavioral-health care, and (2) a Charlotte Mecklenburg Dream Center transitional housing campus with an initial phase of 48 rooms and resident services. Rebecca Hafford, the city's housing director, told the council that supportive housing is "characterized by low barrier to entry, shorter median length of stay, and wrap around services that provide supports to the residences." She said the city's affordable-housing funding policy includes a $9 million investment goal for supportive housing and shelter capacity and that the two recommended projects would use a large share of that funding category.

Why it matters: Supportive-housing projects typically require higher per-room public subsidy than conventional affordable rental development because they include space for services, and many residents pay little or no rent and therefore cannot carry debt. Council members pressed staff for more operational details so the council can judge the proposals' long-term impact and whether public dollars will be deployed effectively.

Key decisions and funding context

Hafford told the council staff had presented both proposals to the Housing, Safety and Community Committee and returned with the projects as recommended uses of the housing trust fund. She told council that the two projects proposed would account for about $6.25 million of the $9 million investment goal in the supportive housing/shelter category, leaving roughly $2.75 million in that category for additional projects.

She described the county hotel conversion as a non-congregate emergency shelter designed as hotel-style rooms with private bathrooms and on-site medical, mental health and substance-use treatment, and said "some shelter capacity would…