Council allocates $10 million of 2024 housing bond to WNC affordable housing loan fund; Self Help to administer loans

City Council on Sept. 9 approved allocating $10 million of the voter-approved 2024 affordable housing bond to the Western North Carolina (WNC) Affordable Housing Loan Fund administered by Self Help Ventures Fund. The allocation is intended to provide low-cost, flexible gap financing to affordable multifamily rental projects within the city. Housing staff presented a bond-implementation strategy that proposes splitting the $20 million bond across several uses; council voted to place $10 million into the WNC loan fund to leverage additional capital for rental development, hold roughly $6 million for homeownership programs (down-payment assistance and other tools), allocate $3 million for city-led affordable housing projects and keep about $1–2 million for home repair. Staff emphasized the WNC fund leverages scarce subsidy by combining subordinate capital with senior loans and tax-credit equity to close financing gaps for affordable developments. Self Help Ventures Fund representatives explained the WNC fund structure: Dogwood Health Trust provided seed capital and the WNC fund is capitalized to support subordinate gap financing for projects that otherwise cannot close. Self Help presented an initial WNC pipeline that already includes loans and originations in WNC, and staff said Asheville projects currently have $11 million in loan requests in the WNC pipeline and 318 units in early-stage pipeline projects. Council recorded a unanimous vote to allocate $10 million to the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund and authorized the city manager to execute a services agreement with Self Help Ventures Fund for loan administration, underwriting and servicing. Staff said loan decisions would be made by Self Help under the loan agreement; the city will receive quarterly reports and an annual presentation to council on fund deployment and outcomes. Staff also said the city retained separate funding for homeownership and local city projects and that loan products for homeownership would be considered in a separate allocation process.