CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – WeBuild Concord, formerly Concord Family Enrichment Association, is asking the Concord city council to approve a $1 million contribution from the city’s affordable housing fund.
The money would be used towards an $11 million effort to create 50-60 affordable housing units over the next year. One of the first of those projects is a 26-unit townhome development known as the Lincoln Street Townhomes for people making 80% or less than the median income.
Of all the units in the first phase of development, the agency says 75% will be for ownership and 25% will be for rent.
“The reality is that affordable housing is competing against a lot of for-profit developers. That becomes a very difficult proposition because, unlike those developers, our motive is not profit. And also, we have to subsidize a lot of that. Even the ownership,” said WeBuild Concord CEO Patrick Graham.
WeBuild Concord’s overall goal is to create 90-120 affordable housing units within the next two and a half years.
A 2019 study revealed Concord needs about 3,000 affordable housing units to keep up with its exponential population growth. However, Graham says experts believe the pandemic could have caused that number to fluctuate closer to 5,000.
“This is why it’s so important that we not only get government involved, but also the private sector involved in really giving resource to affordable housing development in this community, particularly for their employees,” said Graham.
