West Charlotte land trust to bring 120 new units of affordable senior housing by 2024

More affordable housing for West Charlotte’s seniors is on the way.

On Tuesday, the West Side Community Land Trust broke ground on a $31 million project that will bring 120 senior affordable apartments to the West Boulevard corridor.

Dubbed the Historic Nathaniel Carr Senior Apartments, the project honors its namesake, a Black farmer and developer, who with his wife, Lizzie, established Carr Heights neighborhood in 1924 on West Boulevard for Black homebuyers.

“The ground we break today with speech and shovel was broken once before,” Jordan Brooks-Adams, a West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition member, said. “Soil turned over and watered by the sweat of resilient Black men and women.”

The groundbreaking also marked the first foray into multi-family housing for the West Charlotte nonprofit — its largest project to date. The group started in 2018 to combat gentrification and help West Charlotte residents age in place.

“We exist to be conduits of justice in and with communities that have long been overlooked, silenced, and often times erased,” Charis Blackmon, the land trust’s executive director, said.

In May, the land trust acquired the 4.5 acre site on West Boulevard off Tyvola Road for $1.1 million, WCNC reported. The nonprofit has leased the land to affordable housing developer The Paces Foundation and Soho Housing Partners to create the units.

The land trust previously has been recognized for its work to create affordable housing. Earlier in November, it was awarded a $600,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The groundbreaking represents the realization of what the community knows to be true: there is power in people, and that the community’s history, legacy and future are rich, Blackmon said.

A community effort

The development comes as Charlotte remains in dire need of affordable housing. The City Council voted Monday to spend all the money left in its Housing Trust Fund to subsidize more than 600 affordable units.

Victoria Watlington, a city council member, said the Historic Nathaniel Carr Senior Apartments is a shining example of a community and collaborative effort. Watlington, a former West Boulevard Neigborhood Coalition member, added, the efforts of residents to come to the table and be involved should be championed.

“How we build this city and plan this city can not happen for us unless it’s done by us,” she said.

The one- and two-bedroom apartments on West Boulevard will rent between $474 and $1,516, for seniors 55 and older with incomes between 30% and 80% of the area media income.

The project was financed in partnership with Fifth-Third Bank, Raymond James Financial, LISC, Barings, and the city of Charlotte.

Bank of America donated $600,000 in unrestricted grants, with a portion used toward the project, the Charlotte Observer previously reported. The development also received $2.2 million from Charlotte’s HTF and $2 million from the private Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund.

“Delivering another 120 affordable housing units for seniors is a huge need and value,” Steve Bien, president of Soho Housing Partners, said — and will provide a place for the historic West Boulevard neighborhood’s aging residents.

The partnership with the West Side Land Trust and West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition also was key, he said. Soho Housing Partners entered into a community benefits agreement with both organizations.

“So far we’ve all honored our sides of the agreement,” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to make sure you’re coalescing with the neighborhood.”

Garrick Combs, a West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition member, said he supported anything that allows seniors to have the comfort and quality of care they rightly deserve — especially as housing costs rise. . Many do not wish to leave the communities they’ve spent their entire lives in, he said.

“It’s important that we respect and cherish our elders because it’s their shoulders we stand on now,” Combs said.

The project is an example for ways the city could structure projects on West Boulevard to prevent gentrification from hurting the existing community, he said. The type of collaborative work could be built upon across the area.

Combs said he’s hoping the new development will cause brands to see West Boulevard is a viable option for growth opportunity through community collaboration.

“We’re trying to flourish and grow,” he said.

Construction is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024.