North Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  – On Monday, Charlotte City Council approved two new projects that expand affordable housing options by leveraging city-owned land for development.

Charlotte City Council approved a 60-year ground lease on city-owned land in the Ballantyne area. The developer, CSE Communities (Crosland Southeast), will pay $1/year and build affordable housing on the 3.4-acre site, which includes the land at 11217 Providence Road West and a portion of 15024 Ballancroft Parkway, located near the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s south division team office.

The development, Evoke Living, will include 60 affordable units:

• 12 units for those earning 30% or less of the area median income (AMI) 
• 32 units for households at or below 60% AMI
• 16 units at or below 80% AMI

Evoke Living also received $3.1 million from the Housing Trust Fund in April 2023. The development is in a high-opportunity area, and will offer residents access to jobs, amenities, services, and high-quality public schools. Providing city-owned land and support from the Housing Trust Fund will enable the developer to keep the complex affordable in a traditionally high-cost, high-opportunity area.

Crosland Southeast has until January 18, 2024, to exercise the option to lease, and units must be completed within three years.

Charlotte City Council also approved the sale of four parcels owned by the city located in the Camp Greene and Enderly Park communities on Monday. These parcels will be sold for a total of $1 to the West Side Community Land Trust (WSCLT), who will build four, for-sale affordable housing units on site.

WSCLT is a local nonprofit organization created by residents to empower the West Charlotte community to preserve and develop their neighborhoods to the benefit of low-income residents, as well as the neighborhoods as a whole, in the face of rapid reinvestment and displacement. The organization is uniquely qualified to assist in meeting the city’s affordable housing needs in these communities.

This effort supports both homeownership and anti-displacement work near the Freedom Drive/Wilkinson Boulevard corridor—one of Charlotte’s Corridors of Opportunity. By providing homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income residents, this initiative will help residents build generational wealth while mitigating displacement in a rapidly changing area.

Leveraging city-owned land is recognized as a best practice used across the country. It decreases the amount of city financial support needed by developers, which enables other city tools, like Housing Trust Fund dollars, to go further. 

Original source can be found here