RALEIGH, N.C. — This week, over half a million dollars in federal funding was presented to the city of Raleigh. It’s part of a more than $8 million project to build 18 affordable units in downtown, being led by the first community land trust (CLT) in Wake County.
Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, Durham and Chapel Hill are just some of the places across the state with community land trusts. Meanwhile, Greensboro plans to launch one next year. Essentially, a homeowner owns the home but the trust owns the land. The model helps make homeownership more accessible while ensuring the land stays affordable.
Kevin Campbell, the executive director of the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT), has a lot of experience in the affordable housing sector.
“I’ve been doing affordable housing work in different places for over 30 years,” Campbell said. “Even communities that would have been historically thought of as being affordable are starting to lose that.”
As the first executive director of the Raleigh Area Land Trust, he’s tackling that challenge head on.
“The recreation, to have that right here, that would be a big benefit to this project. Also, this is just a couple blocks off of the bus rapid transit route,” Campbell said.
Soon enough, the blank slate at the intersection of E. Lane Street and Idlewild Avenue will feature 18 affordable housing units. The project, known as the Cottages of Idlewild, will have 14 units for sale and four others for rent.
“The units are all set so that whether they're for sale or for rent, that a family’s monthly payment does not exceed 30% of their income,” Campbell said.
The project is part of Wake County’s first community land trust. Campbell says the overall price point is lower from the start because the trust still owns the land, addressing two possible financial barriers to homeownership.
“The price point is lower because you're only buying the house and not the land. So that really opens up home ownership for a lower income group, which is important. And then also, the savings on property taxes. Again, the buyer is only paying taxes on the building itself, not on the land,” Campbell said.
After raising more than $8 million, the organization is set to break ground this year and construction should be done in 2025. Campbell says he’s looking forward to all the ways this will benefit the community, which is a realm of possibilities.
“The idea of homeownership, which helps a family not only with housing but also a chance to build wealth and have assets to leave behind for their next generation is really an important thing that hasn't been possible for lots of people,” Campbell said.
Campbell says the cost of these new homes will be around $225,000 or less.
The community is also right across from the LeVelle Moton Park. Moton is the head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina Central University and Campbell says Moton’s grandmother’s house was on the property that’s being developed. Campbell says Moton has played a major role in the project and the overall effort to preserve the neighborhood he grew up in.
Campbell says there’s already a lot of interest in these new homes and about 50 families attended the spring information sessions. If you’re interested in learning more about this new community and the application process, the next information session is in a few weeks on July 18.
Campbell says the Raleigh Area Land Trust is also working with the town of Cary to sell four homes with the land trust model there.