Council considers 80-unit affordable senior housing plan with conditional funding timeline
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Summary
A petition for an 80-unit affordable housing development proposed an 18-month financing contingency and a 20-year affordability commitment for most units; council sought clarity on infrastructure and funding timelines.
A proposal by CSE (Crossland Southeast / CSE Communities LLC) to develop an affordable multifamily project south of Mount Holly Huntersville Road drew council attention on Feb. 17 over funding timelines, pedestrian infrastructure and the petition’s contingency clause.
Staff described the site as just over 2.5 acres proposed for Community Activity Center 1 (CAC1) conditional zoning. The petitioner committed to 80 multifamily stacked units, with 70% of those units limited to households earning no more than 80% of area median income (AMI) for at least 20 years. The petitioner said the project would seek Housing Trust Fund financing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits; if the financing effort is not successful within an 18-month window (two cycles), the conditional commitments tied to the rezoning would lapse and the property would be permitted to develop under CAC1 standards without the affordable-housing commitment.
Council members asked several follow-up questions. Council member Sean (name not stated on record for this question) and Council member Victoria Watlington asked about infrastructure and neighborhood concerns; petitioner representatives said adjacent property owners expressed support and that staff would coordinate traffic and sidewalk improvements through the permitting process. Tim Sinema of Crossland Southeast explained the financing timelines and stressed that the developer’s intent is to deliver affordable housing; he described how the seller (a credit union) agreed to the rezoning on the condition that the property would not be permanently limited if financing could not be obtained.
Council member LaWanna Mayfield and others pressed staff for clarity on process and asked whether state scoring (for tax credits) and the city’s HTF timeline would be aligned — the petitioner confirmed state scoring and timelines are strict and that meeting them drives the compressed schedule. Council members welcomed the project and its partnership with the city while also requesting additional neighborhood outreach and clarity on infrastructure impacts.
Why it matters: The petition uses zoning to reserve a site for affordable senior housing contingent on securing competitive public funding and tax credits. The 18-month contingency is a mechanism used in prior projects to reduce risk to sellers while enabling affordable-housing proposals to compete for scarce funding.
What happens next: Staff recommended approval subject to outstanding site and building design issues being resolved; council closed the public hearing and petitioners and staff will continue to refine plans and coordinate financing and infrastructure steps.
