Summary: The City should approve the proposed CDBG-DR affordable housing awards because they would create hundreds of long-term affordable homes and help reduce displacement pressures during post-Helene recovery.

The Facts: City Council is considering nearly $18 million in CDBG-DR disaster recovery funding for three affordable housing developments that would collectively create 331 affordable housing units. 

The recommended projects are:

• Terrace at River Hills – 126 units
• District East Commons – 93 units
• 319-B Biltmore – 112 units

The City’s presentation notes that eligible projects must reserve at least 5% of units at rents affordable to households at or below 30% Area Median Income (AMI). The majority of the units proposed will be at or below 50% AMI.

The City explicitly frames these investments as part of a broader anti-displacement strategy intended to stabilize residents, preserve generational wealth, and reduce housing insecurity after the storm. 

You can read the staff report here and see the presentation slides here.

Our Assessment: No affordable housing proposal is perfect, and Asheville still faces enormous housing affordability challenges. But on balance, these investments represent a meaningful and constructive use of disaster recovery funding.

The projects provide long-term affordability protections, leverage additional state and federal funding, and create housing at affordability levels that are increasingly difficult to build in Asheville’s current market.

Just as importantly, the presentation reveals that the City plans to pair renter-focused multifamily housing investments with expanded homeowner repair programs intended to help existing residents remain in place after Helene. (It’s worth noting that there are several available strategies for the City to address both the need for more multifamily rental housing and single-family home repair. It’s unclear to us that the City has landed on the best available strategy that will maximize returns on both of these critical needs. We will have more analysis on this issue in future reports.)

The bottom line is that this is a positive step. While the City needs to continue strengthening anti-displacement protections and community accountability, these housing awards move Asheville in the right direction.

Things to do: We invite you to use our email template to urge City Council to continue prioritizing deeply affordable housing and anti-displacement recovery investments. (The template also addresses the other two issues in our report: the proposed Shiloh developments and the expansion of surveillance.) Scroll up or click here to access the template.

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