https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article237241454.html
Mecklenburg plans affordable housing in a neighborhood facing gentrification threat
By Alison Kuznitz
November 11, 2019 05:02 PM
Mecklenburg County is moving forward with plans to develop mixed-income housing on approximately 14 acres in Grier Heights, one of Charlotte’s
oldest African American neighborhoods that was established by former slaves in 1886.
Situated near the Grier Heights and Randolph Road parks, the Billingsley site is intended to “focus on achieving long-term affordability,” according to a presentation from the commissioners’ meeting last week.
The county owns about 55 acres off Billingsley and Randolph roads, including the site of the proposed development, according to property records.
It’s too early in the process to know how many total units will be built at the Billingsley site, though the development is expected to include a combination of single-family town-homes and apartment buildings.
The looming threat of gentrification in the historic neighborhood vexed some commissioners as they invited developers to submit preliminary proposals about financing and constructing the complex. The nearly 460-acre Grier Heights community is located only three miles south of uptown.
“It’s important we are able to provide options and help people maintain the culture and the fabric of the community,” Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell, of District 4, said in a phone interview. “Community engagement is extremely important. I think there’s a level of excitement mixed with trepidation.”
The median household income in Grier Heights is about $18,000 — nearly $44,000 below the county’s average, U.S. Census data shows. Originally home to lower-income and middle-class families, Grier Heights is located just east of Randolph Road and adjacent to the Eastover neighborhood.
Joe Clifford, the pastor at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, said his congregation is part of a coalition of religious and activist groups that have worked to bring more affordable housing to Grier Heights.
As he sees it, the neighborhood of 3,000 people is under “tremendous pressure” from gentrification, echoing the realities of Cherry — another traditionally African American neighborhood in Charlotte where lifelong residents were displaced amid new development and soaring home prices.
“We hope there’s a place for everyone who wants to call Grier Heights home,” Clifford said. “It’s an incredibly important neighborhood. If we lose this island of affordable housing, it would be tragic.”
There’s a shortage of about 34,000 affordable housing units in Charlotte,
according to a city report. The deficit has been exacerbated by rising median rent prices with a stagnant $7.25 minimum wage, the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte
found in a September report.
About a quarter of the units would be designated for those earning 30% or less of the county’s area median income, or about $23,700 for a family of four, according to the presentation Wednesday. Another quarter to 30% of the units would be for those earning 31% to 80% of the county’s area median income — and the same number of units would be for those earning between 81% to 120%.
The remaining units would be sold at the market rate.
“It’s critical having that mix, and I think we’re really laying out a blueprint that could be a game-changer in the community,” Jerrell said, noting developers would be attracted to the prospects of a profitable project.
But Commissioner Pat Cotham criticized the income breakdown, questioning if more units should have been allocated for residents in the lowest tier.
“That would be important to me,” Cotham said in an interview. “There’s plenty of apartments in the 60 to 80% (area median income).”
Initial site proposals are due Dec. 19, and the commissioners will then pick developers to prepare more formalized plans in January.
Julie Porter, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, said the project is only part of the strategy for revitalizing Grier Heights and spurring economic mobility among residents.
“It can’t just be about the housing,” Porter said. “It has to be about this being a neighborhood that may be missing other services and how do you incorporate that into a successful development.”
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