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No longer a 'no-fly zone,' Charlotte is funding some low-income housing in the Ballantyne area

Apartments
City of Charlotte
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Handout art
An affordable housing development in Charlotte

Charlotte City Council’s District 7 covers wealthy areas like Piper Glen, Blakeney and Ballantyne.

It's a big swath of the city. But other than one project for senior citizens, there’s no subsidized low-income housing there.

Now, after years of the city trying to bring affordable housing to the district, at least three projects are moving forward — without facing the intense opposition from neighbors seen in previous years.

Council members on Monday approved spending nearly $24 million on eight new housing projects, including dedicating $3.1 million to a 60-unit low-income apartment building off Johnston Road. That's near Providence Road West, close to Ballantyne.

Crosland Southeast is the primary developer.

There was little opposition to that project during community meetings.

That’s far different than in 2010, when the Charlotte Housing Authority and a private developer tried to build affordable housing at that same intersection. Neighbors blasted the plan and the project was withdrawn.

Republican City Council member Ed Driggs, who represents District 7, said the lack of opposition this time was something of a milestone.

“Given the history of controversy around the idea of affordable housing in Ballantyne, and this sort of general perception that the whole district was kind of a no-fly zone, I think this is a significant event,” he said.

And there’s a second project moving forward.

In 2014, City Council members approved a rezoning for low-income apartments near Weddington Road. That project drew intense opposition from neighbors, and a lawsuit blocked the project for years.

Julie Porter of DreamKey Partners, the developer, remembers organizing a community meeting.

"They had to move it to the tennis courts," she said. "Over 500 people showed up. There was significant opposition and real emotion behind that opposition."

But almost a decade later, Porter said the 96-unit complex is moving forward again after the City Council approved a second rezoning earlier this year. This time, far fewer people have opposed it.

"I think times have really changed," she said. "It was just a completely different experience in 2023."

Northwood Office is the developer of Ballantyne Reimagined, a plan to transform the office park into a mixed-use development with lots of shops and housing. Northwood agreed in 2020 to set aside some land for affordable housing as part of a redevelopment of the land behind the Ballantyne Hotel. Those low-income units haven't been built yet and the developer hasn't asked the city for money from its Housing Trust Fund.

The city would like subsidized housing to be dispersed throughout the city, rather than concentrated in areas where there are already subsidized units. That would prevent low-income people from being clustered together and would give more residents access to good schools and jobs.

Neighborhood opposition has been one reason that few low-income developments have been built in District 7, as well as District 6, which includes areas like SouthPark and Myers Park.

The City Council on Monday voted to spend $3.1 million to subsidize the construction of 60 new apartments near Ballantyne
City of Charlotte
The City Council on Monday voted to spend $3.1 million to subsidize the construction of 60 new apartments near Ballantyne

Another reason is the cost of land. It just costs more to buy land in high-income areas, which makes subsidized housing more expensive to build. Dollars don't go as far there.

To make the project near Ballantyne viable, the city will give Crosland Southeast $3.1 million. That’s roughly $52,000 per apartment — one of the largest per-unit subsidies it's given.

Shawn Health, the city’s director of Housing and Neighborhood Services, said the project is also expensive because the land, next to the police station, is difficult to build on.

Rents will start at $453 a month.

Most of the city’s affordable housing is still built in the so-called “crescent” — a collection of closer-in neighborhoods west, north and east of uptown.

Council members voted 10-1 to fund the projects. Republican council member Tariq Bokhari voted no. He said the city's affordable housing problem is so large that the city needs a different strategy to make a dent.

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Steve Harrison is WFAE's politics and government reporter. Prior to joining WFAE, Steve worked at the Charlotte Observer, where he started on the business desk, then covered politics extensively as the Observer’s lead city government reporter. Steve also spent 10 years with the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.