Charlotte staff recommend funding 13 projects from $100 million housing bond; council to vote April 28

Charlotte City Council received a staff presentation April 14 on recommended investments from the city’s $100 million Housing Trust Fund bond, with staff recommending 13 proposals for the first funding round and asking the council to vote on the recommendations at its April 28 business meeting.

City housing Director Rebecca Heffner told the council that “the bottom line is ... staff. We recommend 13 housing trust fund proposals,” and that the package includes multifamily production, rental preservation (NOAH acquisition/rehab), homeownership developments and one transit-oriented site-acquisition request. Heffner said the round included 25 proposals in total and that demand exceeded available funds.

The recommendation set would use a mix of Housing Trust Fund dollars, federal HOME funds where eligible and a balance of fee-in-lieu payments for a transit-oriented land acquisition. Staff advised the council that the recommended multifamily investments would create nearly 700 new affordable rental units (including roughly 168 senior units) and that the overall combined recommendations — if approved including both preservation proposals — would fund more than 1,100 affordable units across categories.

Why it matters: Charlotte voters approved a $100 million affordable-housing bond last year. The council adopted an Affordable Housing Funding Policy in September that sets goals including economic mobility, neighborhood affordability and residential stability; staff used that policy to score and prioritize proposals. The April 14 presentation laid out near-term commitments…