Affordable Housing Development

Affordable Rental

The Bungalows

Thirty-two units of rental housing have been built on Park and Jetton Streets to meet Davidson’s need for housing for people who earn up to 50% of local area median income. Nearly two million dollars in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Dollars were obtained to finance the project. Construction was finished in November of 2000. The design for this project came from a thorough, community design charrette, creating a plan that reflects the traditional character of housing in Davidson. The nine buildings are bungalow style, a historically dominant housing type in town.

DHC entered the affordable rental arena in response to the April 1999 sunset date for federal subsidies at Lakeside apartments (Davidson’s only subsidized housing) and a market study that documented a need for 88 affordable units in town. Partnering with the Affordable Housing Group of Charlotte, DHC secured nearly two million dollars in Low Income Housing Tax Credits through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. DHC was the only group funded in this highly competitive process that did not have a paid staff person when awards were announced. Other partners in the development include Sterling Financial Corporation, First Charter National Bank, Burgess Design, Environmental Design, the Federal Home Loan Bank, Crosland Construction, the Rowan, Iredell, and Cabarrus County HOME Consortium, and Community Management Company.  

With further questions or for an application, please call 704-895-5600.

Creekside Corner

On June 1, 2001, the Davidson Housing Coalition (DHC) and Davidson College entered into a unique partnership involving eight properties that were previously owned by Ralph and Ervine Johnson. Since receiving these properties from the college, and with the college’s financial support, DHC began the process of planning how to renovate or redevelop the homes to provide safe, affordable, and beautiful housing for area people. In working to meet this goal, DHC organized a redevelopment team consisting of the staff of the organization, several board members, and the residents of the homes.

The initial goal of the group was to renovate the existing properties, but environmental testing and home inspections revealed that it would be more effective to renovate only one house, tear down the other five structures and rebuild. That rebuilding process was directed by neighborhood design workshops.  Guided by the Lawrence Group Architects, these meetings led to a community consensus on design that includes a mix of single-family and duplex style units as well as an office space for DHC. Thus far, DHC has built 1 quadraplex unit, and 3 duplex units for rental, and two single-family houses that have been sold to qualified buyers. In 2006, DHC completed construction on a triplex rental unit in the bungalow style, adding 2 two-bedroom units and 1 three-bedroom unit to Creekside Corner's property.  In 2009, DHC completed the renovation of the historic Ralph Johnson House, adding a one-bedroom unit and a three-bedroom unit to the now 14-unit complex.

Click here to download a rental application.

Neighborhood Development:

Single-Family Homes and Town Homes

Deer Park

Deer Park is a mixed-use, mixed-income community that includes condominiums, a business park, retail space, a hotel and conference center, new restaurants, an 11-acre public park, a walking trail around Lake Davidson, and a single-family neighborhood. Kennerly Development Company was responsible for the full-site, but Arvida Corporation, the parent company of Saussy-Burbank, purchased the land where the single-family neighborhood was built. This neighborhood includes 48 homes, and 10 of those 48 were developed and sold by the Davidson Housing Coalition in partnership with Kennerly Development, Arvida, and Saussy-Burbank.

Through creative financing, partner commitments, and several local initiatives, the Davidson Housing Coalition homes were sold initially at $90,000 or less, to income-eligible homebuyers. The other 38 homes ranged in price between 113k and 145k. There are no income-eligibility guidelines to buy those 38 homes.

Deer Park represents the first time that DHC has partnered with a for-profit developer through our Neighborhood Development Program, utilizing the DHC Land Trust. This program builds mixed-income communities in keeping with the Town’s zoning regulations for providing affordable housing to lower income citizens. 

New Neighborhood in Old Davidson

New Neighborhood in Old Davidson is a mixed-income community located in East Davidson that features single-family homes, town homes, small parks, and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. With developer Doug Boone, the Cunnane Group built the development in 2004, offering three town homes to the Davidson Housing Coalition to be sold between $110,000 and $115,000 to lower-wealth families and individuals earning less than 80% of the area median income. The other town homes in this development sold from $250,000. To make the town homes affordable, the developers made them shorter front to back and didn’t include special amenities featured in the other units, like wide crown molding. What resulted were three affordable units that look just like their neighbors, achieving a goal of the Davidson Housing Coalition and developers to build affordable housing that is consistent with the rest of the development in terms of style, appearance, and quality. The first of the three town homes was sold to a qualified buyer in September, 2004, with the other two sold less than a year later in early 2005.

Through the Affordable Housing Ordinance, developers are required to designate 12.5% of their communities as affordable housing. To learn more about some of the developments currently underway, click here.

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