The City of Asheville continues to move towards the creation of more affordable housing for those who want to live in and around Asheville. The City’s Community and Economic Development Department has partnered with Habitat for Humanity and Mountain Housing Opportunities to create affordable housing.
Studies show that access to decent, affordable housing provides stability for vulnerable families, helps support our local economy, and helps prevent homelessness.
Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity received funding from the City for Curry Court, located in Candler. The City invested $120,000 in HOME funds for down payment assistance. HOME funding is a federal grant municipalities can use to subsidize direct homeownership assistance. The assistance provides a 0% interest deferred mortgage as down payment assistance to purchase energy-efficient homes. For this project, the funding was used to help 12 low-income homeowners.
The Habitat homes are now occupied and more single family and townhouse homes are under construction. The neighborhood is near one of the County’s “Trailblazer routes” where riders can flag down a bus. This service links our neighborhood to shopping, parks, and services in the area, as well as to the Asheville Transit System, making it one of the more accessible parts of the County served by public transit.
East Asheville ground breaking
Community and Economic Development also put funding into a project now under construction. A groundbreaking for East Haven Apartments in East Asheville took place July 29. Mountain Housing Opportunities Inc. (MHO), as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO), will use $1.67 million of HOME funds of the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium.
When complete, to be eligible for the apartments households must have incomes at or below 60% of the area median income. The development will consist of two 4-story garden-style buildings, with approximately 89,000 total square feet, constructed as, Energy Star certified, corridor-style apartments with one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Site amenities include a playground tot lot, covered picnic area with tables with a grill, and three outdoor sitting areas with benches.
Affordable housing helps increase the discretionary income that low-income families have available to meet important family needs or save for the future.