CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nonprofits are seeking solutions for the lack of affordable housing in Charlotte.
Ascent Housing, with the help of partners like the Housing Collaborative, is buying apartment buildings that are at risk of being flipped by developers to maintain their lower rent prices.
On Wednesday night, Mecklenburg County leaders approved giving money to one of its latest projects.
As new construction comes in and rent goes up, Ascent Housing hopes to preserve existing affordable housing; like the Swan Run Apartments in south Charlotte.
"Preservation prevents displacement, dramatic rent increases, and/or demolition of the property," LaShonda Hart explained to county commissioners on Wednesday. Hart leads the county's affordable housing initiatives.
Swan Run is one of seven naturally occurring affordable housing properties, called NOAHs, that Ascent Housing and its Housing Impact Fund have acquired since 2020.
"Typically, the properties we acquire, including Swan Run, are often at risk of being purchased by a larger national private equity group that does modest small renovations but then increases the rents significantly," Adelaide Martin with Ascent Housing previously explained to WCNC Charlotte.
Ascent Housing, which operates the NOAH properties and the fund, got $2.4 million from the city last year to help buy and renovate Swan Run.
Now, Mecklenburg County is giving the group nearly $1.4 million on top of that over the next 20 years. The money will go toward rental subsidies for the apartment's lowest-income residents.
The property has 92 units and pricing will be based on a tenant’s income.
28 of the units will be reserved for people at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI). That means making about $21,000 a year as an individual. Of those 28 units, half will be reserved for people who are experiencing extreme housing insecurity and don’t have access to housing vouchers.
The county money will go to rental subsidies for those at-risk residents. Hart's presentation said the subsidies will drop the price of a two-bedroom unit at Swan Run from about $1,400 a month to as low as $300.
She noted current residents will not be displaced by new management. Instead, residents will be moved in as others move out.
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