Proponents of more affordable housing in the Wilmington area will be watching the outcome of next week’s New Hanover County Commissioners’ meeting closely.
The commissioners will consider requests related to two new apartment projects that could add 160 units to the area’s list of affordable housing options.
The Cape Fear Housing Coalition (CFHC) recently finished compiling a comprehensive list of existing options, presenting the nonprofit organization’s Affordable Housing Street Sheet this week in hopes that local government offices and other organizations will have them on hand to distribute.
“Many calls and comments come to the CFHC from our local Housing Partners with clients looking for housing, and there has been no one-stop shop on paper to find affordable housing communities,” according to a news release on the pamphlet from CFHC.
Pointing out housing options that are offered at lower rents than standard market rate, the pamphlet lists the communities, their addresses and phone numbers and the Wave Transit bus routes on which they’re located. It also lists phone numbers to regional public housing offices, a housing hotline for those in crisis and a statewide website address when searching for housing anywhere in North Carolina.
“We have a good amount of options,” said Paul D’Angelo, chairman of CFHC. “We could definitely use more.”
Many of the existing properties included in the pamphlet have waiting lists, D’Angelo explained.
County commissioners during their meeting at 3 p.m. Monday will consider rezoning requests that would allow the development of Aaronfield Cove, an 80-unit complex at 4713 Carolina Beach Road, and Woodridge Pointe, an apartment community that would also have 80 units, in the 5000 block of Carolina Beach Road.
The federal tax credits that the separate developers of the two projects plan to apply for help offset the cost of building apartments with rents that are less than the current market rate.
In addition to serving as chairman of CFHC, D'Angelo was also recently chosen as one of the city's appointees to the Wilmington/New Hanover County Ad Hoc Committee on Improving Workforce/Affordable Housing. The next step in the formation of the panel is for the county to choose appointees.
