West Haywood Street: 41 deeply-affordable apartments breaking ground in WECAN

West Haywood Street: 41 deeply-affordable apartments breaking ground in WECAN

ASHEVILLE – Standing on the slight rise, overlooking the interstate toward the mountains beyond, a question aimed in her direction knocked Jeanette King out of a thoughtful reverie. “I’m sorry,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just visualizing the view that our friends are going to wake up to every morning.”

King and fellow Haywood Street Community Development board member, Carrie Pettler, were planted at the edge of an empty lot — a vaguely rectangular parcel of grass and scrubby brush, the slope culminating in a chain-link fence, home to a massive rusting Ingles billboard that greets motorists driving west into downtown Asheville. It’s the site of the group’s first deeply-affordable housing project: 41 units, the majority targeting people earning 30-50% of the area median income, more than a decade in the making. Haywood Street Community Development is an affordable housing nonprofit created by nearby Haywood Street Congregation.

A Mesmerizing Vision

On a sunny day in February, less than a week out from the Feb. 21 groundbreaking, King and Pettler sketched the outline of the new building across the vista of mountain and sky: three stories of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, splitting to four stories on the north-facing side, small mountain-view decks and community spaces. “It’s mesmerizing,” King said of the vision. “You’d be amazed at the feelings that go through a person’s chest when they have a safe roof over their head after the struggles and turmoil they’ve had to deal with.”

‘Yes in my backyard’

The parcel, at 339 West Haywood St., on the north end of the West End Clingman Avenue neighborhood, also known as Chicken Hill, is positioned on the cusp of downtown. Pettler, the board’s representative from WECAN, lives within view of the project, separated from the 1.3-acre parcel only by a spur of N.C. Department of Transportation land. Across the street is the Asheville Rides Transit garage and the WECAN community garden. Most residents of WECAN were excited to stand behind the West Haywood Street development, as they believe in affordable housing, understand the value of urban neighborhoods, and want the people who work downtown to be able to afford to live there. “I am just super proud of this neighborhood for being more YIMBYs than NIMBYs,” Pettler said.

Project Details

The two original project parcels were purchased for the development in March 2022 for $1.3 million. The final parcel was closed on in November 2023 for $505,000. The acquisition of the third parcel changed the design and unit-count from a four-story building on a podium, with parking below, to a three/four-story split, with surface parking elsewhere on the lot, what Haywood Street Congregation Executive Director Laura Kirby said was ultimately a more visually-appealing design for the neighborhood and reduced overall construction costs.

Of the 41 units, 37 (a mix of one- and two-bedrooms) will be reserved for housing voucher holders, which targets people earning 30-50% AMI. The remaining four three-bedroom units would be rented at 80% AMI and below. The affordable rental rates are established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and vary according to income level and number of bedrooms.

Funding and Support

The Haywood Street apartments will be funded through public-private partnerships, with a total budget of $12.25 million. The project clinched Asheville City Council approval in February 2022. Council also approved funding support for the project in the form of a $1.3 million grant from the city’s affordable housing bond funds to purchase land, plus an additional $296,000 for due diligence costs, and a $904,000 loan from the Housing Trust Fund for construction. Buncombe County committed $749,000 and Dogwood Health Trust allocated $2 million. Charitable donations through fundraising amount to $2.2 million.

‘A New Era’

King moved to Asheville in the ’80s, having experienced homelessness as a single parent before. Since then, she’s been involved on various boards and has been advocating for the housing effort since the beginning. “People caring for people,” she said of the project. “This is the beginning of a new era.” Shared by board members and Haywood Street staff was a desire to see the model replicated — to pursue further deeply-affordable developments, necessitated by an ever-deepening housing crisis.

“As soon as we put the shovel in the ground, we’re going to start thinking about the next one,” Pettler said. This was echoed by Walker Strickland, also on the HSCD board. She’s been in Asheville for seven years, she said, and even in that time, she’s watched prices go through the roof.

Continued Advocacy for Affordable Housing

“I’ve watched friends move away because of it, watched graduates from UNCA not be able to find positions and housing, and so they’re leaving. I don’t want to live in this ultra-rich, wealthy vacation town; I want to live among people who are supporting what we have to offer,” she said. “I would love to see as many affordable housing complexes as we can create, that is the dream, for sure.”

Pettler, who has been on the board for two years, said she’d stay forever if she could. “I’m in awe, every day, of the HSCD board and the HSC staff who commit their lives to this. The dedication and the commitment to people in our town, to other people in our town, is so beautiful. They changed me, in a way, to make me want to do more, to be more committed, to advocate more,” she said.

Anticipated Build Time

Once construction begins, a 12-18 month build is anticipated. King added, “for generations and generations.”

If you go

What: Haywood Street Community Development groundbreaking of first deeply-affordable housing project.
When: Feb. 21, 12:45 p.m.
Where: 339 West Haywood St.

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.

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