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Housing update: Fayetteville aims to close six‑year deficit, releases four RFPs for city land and seeks NLC grant
Summary
Chief Housing Officer Marley Stark told council the city is on track to close a six‑year housing deficit by 2026 based on permitted units in the pipeline, highlighted preservation programs and announced four city‑owned land RFPs to support mixed‑income housing; staff also outlined a $60,000 National League of Cities implementation grant with a 1:1 local match.
Marley Stark, Fayetteville’s chief housing officer, briefed council on production, preservation and partnerships at the Oct. 14 agenda session, saying staff are "on track to close our 6 year housing deficit by 2026" based on permitted units expected to come online in 2026.
On production and city land, Stark said the city released four RFPs in September for mixed-income development on city-owned parcels to reduce land-cost barriers and enable below‑median‑income units. She said the RFPs were intentionally flexible on unit mixes so proposals can be negotiated through a selection committee rather than over‑prescribing a single percentage of units at each AMI level. "We didn't want to sort of be over prescriptive," Stark said, adding that a selection committee will weigh affordability goals and site‑specific constraints.
Council members pressed staff on minimum standards and long-term affordability. One councilor asked whether the city should set a minimum share of units at 60% AMI or lower; another recommended look‑backs or long covenants to preserve affordability for multiple decades. Stark said some language already exists for qualified residential rental projects—"we do have some existing language ... about at least 20% of units occupied by individuals earning below 50% of AMI"—and the selection process will be used to negotiate final affordability commitments.
On preservation, Stark described a city home‑repair and rehabilitation program that has invested nearly $200,000 across 14 low‑income households to date in 2025 and flagged a potential $300,000 resilience repair partnership with stormwater staff to assist flood‑prone homes. She also overviewed the HEARTH permanent supportive‑housing program, which she said is operating at capacity and currently supports 41 adults and 10 children.
Stark also described staff plans to apply for a $60,000 implementation grant from the National League of Cities (NLC) to pilot a resident‑driven housing‑preservation workforce program spawned from a recent "housing co‑create" workshop. The NLC grant requires a 1:1 local match; Stark said staff are exploring using some CLG grant funds or philanthropic contributions to meet that match and noted the city has until 2027 to secure support.
Next steps: staff said the RFPs close on Nov. 18, 2025, and that the selection committee process and any negotiated affordability terms will return to council for approvals as required.
