County Advances Affordable Housing Development on Coxe Avenue

Asheville, NC – There may be an affordable housing development coming to the heart of downtown in the next three years. The County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on April 2 to invite private developers to partner on a $59.1 million complex for 200 affordable units at 50 and 52 Coxe Ave., directly across from the Asheville Redefines Transit bus station and Rabbit Rabbit music venue. Commissioners Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Parker Sloan were absent.

Plans for the Development

The complex will include 5,900 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, a playground, lawn area, pedestrian plaza, and parking deck, according to a presentation from the UNC School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative.

“These will be really cool places for people to live,” said County Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman. “I think people will be very eager to live there just because this is such an interesting location. There just hasn’t been much other development in our community in recent years that is going to be like this.”

As proposed, the project will include 42 units for residents making 30% or less of area median income, 119 units for those at 50%-60% of AMI and 26 for those making up to 80% AMI, according to the presentation.

Funding for the Project

The project will be largely paid for through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, a federal subsidy program for developers building rental housing for lower-income households. DFI projects the county will still have to find between $9.8 and $16.1 million from private or public funds, depending on what tax credit a private partner can obtain for the project, said Sarah Odio, associate director of the DFI.

Because of the nature of the project, it would have cost the county slightly less per unit to construct the smaller development, but commissioners felt the need for affordable housing downtown was too great to limit the units in the project.

Legislative Agenda

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners agreed on its legislative agenda for the N.C. General Assembly’s short session, which starts Wednesday, April 10, in Raleigh. The goals include:

• State funding priorities for education, water quality projects, and repairs to McCormick Field.
• Policy priorities such as state funding support for early childhood education, modernizing property tax relief guidelines, and state investment in broadband infrastructure.

Acquisition of Deaverview Mountain

The county is one step closer to acquiring a picturesque 342-acre West Asheville tract as a county park. Commissioners voted 5-0 to direct staff to pursue about $4.4 million in grant funding to make up the rest of the funding gap for Deaverview Mountain.

Short-Term Rental Incentives

Despite several residents coming to speak out against the county’s proposed changes to its short-term rental rules, commissioners removed an agenda item addressing proposed incentives for property owners to turn short-term rentals into long-term rentals.