Summary: While we continue to have concerns about the transparency and long-term efficiency of the Renew NC homeowner reconstruction program, we believe the final CDBG-DR housing amendment represents a significant improvement over the proposal originally presented to the public last December. We’re proud of the part GAPavl played in influencing that outcome, and think it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that the City listened to community concerns, revised its plans, and preserved important investments in affordable multifamily housing. 

In December, 2025, City staff presented a proposed amendment: because demand for single-family homeowner assistance was much greater than anticipated, they proposed to shift approximately $17 million from the multifamily affordable housing program into the Renew NC program.

After several additional revision proposals, City staff’s final proposed amendment to the action plan was published in May. Rather than shifting $17 million from multifamily housing, this final amendment shifted $9.2 million from the multifamily affordable housing allocation and $10 million originally intended for infrastructure into the Renew NC homeowner repair and reconstruction program. This amendment left approximately $18.8 million available for affordable multifamily housing. City Council approved this amendment on June 23, 2026.

Using that $18.8 million in CDBG-DR funding, the City has now approved three affordable housing developments:

• District East Commons — $1.39 million to support 93 affordable apartments.
• 319-B Biltmore — $7 million to support 112 affordable apartments.
• Terrace at River Hills — $9.5 million to support 126 affordable apartments, serving households earning 20% to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). Fourteen of those units will serve households at 20–30% AMI, while 86 units (68%) will serve households below 60% AMI. This represents deeper affordability than is common for projects of this size in Asheville. The apartments will remain affordable for at least 35 years.

Together, these three developments will create 331 affordable homes for Asheville residents.

Our Assessment: When the initial proposed amendment was first presented in December, we were deeply concerned by the scale of the reduction in funding for affordable multifamily housing. As we saw it, this was a critical need that pre-existed Hurricane Helene, but which was deeply exacerbated by the storm and its aftermath. Shifting approximately $17 million from vitally needed affordable housing construction would have profound consequences to many of the most impacted residents of our City.

Over the following months, many members of the community – including the City’s own Housing Recovery Board, affordable housing organizations, neighborhood advocates, and GAPavl – raised questions about the proposal. Much of that discussion focused on the Renew NC homeowner repair and reconstruction program. We questioned whether rebuilding homes once repair costs exceeded a relatively low threshold represented the best use of limited federal recovery funds, and whether there were ways to provide more homeowner assistance while also preserving a larger investment in affordable multifamily housing.

Some of those questions remain. We still have concerns about the transparency of the Renew NC program and continue to believe the City should release anonymized information showing approved properties, estimated repair costs, and pre-storm property values so the public can better evaluate how these federal funds are being used. We also continue to believe there may have been better solutions than the amendment ultimately adopted.

That said, the final amendment was substantially better than the proposal originally presented in December. By reducing the shift away from multifamily housing from $17 million to $9.2 million, the City preserved enough funding to continue making major investments in affordable housing. Most notably, the City was able to approve $9.5 million for Terrace at River Hills, creating 126 affordable homes, including many serving households with the lowest incomes. Had the original December proposal been adopted, funding for that project would not have been available through the CDBG-DR multifamily housing program.

We’re proud to have been one of many voices advocating for a better approach. Just as importantly, we appreciate City staff and City Council for listening to community concerns, revising their proposal, and ultimately adopting a plan that better balances the urgent need for homeowner recovery with the equally important need to expand Asheville’s affordable housing supply.

Things to do: Use our template to contact key City staff and City Council to thank them for listening to community input and ultimately developing a housing recovery plan that will create 331 affordable homes for Asheville residents.

Email Template: You can send an email to Community Development Division Manager James Shelton, CDBG-DR Program Manager Elma King, CDBG-DR Housing Programs Lead Amber Stapleton, City Manager DK Wesley and the members of the Asheville City Council by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.

Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.

To: jshelton2@ashevillenc.gov, eking@ashevillenc.gov, astapleton@ashevillenc.gov, dwesley@ashevillenc.gov, AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov

CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org

Subject: Thank you for protecting affordable housing

Dear Mr. Shelton, Ms. King, Ms. Stapleton, City Manager Wesley, and City Council,

Thank you for your work on Asheville’s CDBG-DR housing recovery amendment and for your willingness to listen to community feedback throughout this process.

I appreciate that the final amendment preserved substantially more funding for affordable multifamily housing than the proposal presented last December. Because of those changes, the City has been able to invest in projects like Terrace at River Hills, which will create 126 affordable apartments for Asheville residents, including 100 at deeply affordable rents.

I know there were no easy answers in balancing the urgent need for homeowner recovery with the equally important need to expand our affordable housing supply. While I hope the City will continue seeking transparency around the Renew NC homeowner repair and reconstruction program, I want to thank you for taking community input seriously and working toward a better outcome.

Thoughtful public engagement works best when government is willing to listen. I appreciate your willingness to do so, and I hope the City will continue building on this collaborative approach as Asheville’s recovery moves forward.

Thank you for your service to our community.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

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