City of Charlotte more than halfway to affordable housing goal

Charlotte City Council is now more than halfway to accomplishing its goal of completing and/or committing 5,000 affordable housing units within three years.

The council voted during Monday’s City Council business meeting to allocate $20.8 million of the Housing Trust Fund for five multi-family developments, amounting to 769 units. These developments would put the city at 60 percent toward its goal.

Affordable housing is defined as the occupant paying no more than 30 percent of his or her gross income for gross housing costs, including utility costs.

Monday night’s funding allocation includes:

• Grier Heights Seniors ($3.45 million),
• Movement on Freedom ($4.5 million),
• Old Concord at the Blue Line ($5.1 million),
• Vibrant Ashley Park ($2.16 million), and
• West Tyvola ($5.6 million).

City Council also voted to approve an agreement with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) to proceed with final design and preconstruction services for improvements to the Charlotte Convention Center. The agreement reimburses the CRVA for up to $8.5 million for convention center design/development phase costs.

The proposed improvements to the 22-year-old convention center include:

• Increased breakout space on the Stonewall Street side of the venue.
• Expanded accessibility to Center City amenities, hotels and transportation options via a pedestrian bridge.
• Flexible breakout space in the Richardson Ballroom.

Funding for the Charlotte Convention Center project will come from a future debt issuance repaid entirely from dedicated hospitality and tourism taxes. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2019 and should take 18-24 months to complete.

In a typical year, Convention Center events include 227,078 visitors, 159,970 hotel room nights and provide an estimated impact to the local economy of $135.7 million.