Brevard pledges as much as $300,000 for a much-needed affordable housing project

City Council also agreed to ask Transylvania County to split the cost of the supplement, which would help pay to run a sewer line to the proposed Falling Waters development west of downtown.

Broad River Terrace Apartments, which opened a decade ago, is one of the last low-income tax credit projects built in Brevard.

By Dan DeWitt

Brevard NewsBeat

BREVARD — The Brevard City Council voted Monday to pledge as much as $300,000 in assistance to a planned federally subsidized, 80-unit apartment complex that would be the first of its kind built in the city since 2013 and would help address Transylvania County’s acute shortage of affordable housing.

The project, planned for a parcel at Rosman Highway and Nicholson Creek Road, would be funded with the help of federal low-income tax credits and would house  families earning an average of 60 percent of the county’s median income, or about $31,000 per year.

The Council also voted to ask Transylvania County to split the local supplement, which would go toward the estimated $900,000 cost of extending sewer lines to the property, which is now west of the city limits and would be annexed if the application for the subsidy is approved by the North Carolina Housing Finance Authority.

The developer, Workforce Homestead Inc., of Chapel Hill, would foot the rest of the bill for the sewer line extension.

In his presentation, City Manager Jim Fatland said he proposed the cost split to County Manager Jaime Laughter, who told him that the county “would seriously consider being a partner with the city.”

The city’s share, whether $150,000 or $300,000, would come from Brevard’s housing trust fund and the $2.3 million Brevard expects to receive from the federal government as part of this year’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package.

The extension of sewer lines by about a half mile would also open up a corridor on Rosman Highway for future development, including potential affordable and workforce housing projects.

“The city would get housing that we sorely need,” said Council member Gary Daniel. “It’s also an opportunity for us to work hand-in-hand with the county to improve amenities for our community.”

“I think this is a great project and as Gary said, we need to partner with the county as we try to address the affordable and workforce housing issue,” Council member Maureen Copelof said. “If they’re willing to do this with us, that is a great first step.”

A regional housing report last year from Bowen National Research found market-rate rents in Transylvania higher than in either Henderson or Buncombe counties and far out of reach of many county workers.

Bowen not only reported zero vacancy rates in the county’s income-restricted apartment complexes, but that they maintained waiting lists of up to 50 families.

Workforce Homestead has unsuccessfully applied for the highly sought-after tax credits for three similar proposals in Transylvania, said president Jim Yamin. The chances of success have been improved by a rule that gives priority to projects in areas where tax-credit projects have not been built for at least five years.

The last such complex built locally was Cottages at Brevard, which serves residents 55 years old and older and was completed in 2013. The last tax-credit project accessible to younger families was Broad River Terrace, which opened a decade ago, the city’s assistant planning director, Aaron Bland, said in a presentation to council last month.

Bowen found a particular shortage of three-bedroom apartments in Transylvania and Yamin’s project, called Falling Waters, would offer 26 such units, according to plans submitted to the city.

The project would also accept recipients of federal Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, Yamin said. Apartments accessible to voucher holders are so scarce that the waiting list for them is nearly 200 names long, and the four-month term for them often expires before families are able to use them, Sonya Flynn, senior housing specialist for the Western Carolina Community Action said last month.