On January 13, 2016, ULI members gathered at DHIC’s Water Garden Community, an affordable housing complex, to discuss the opportunities for creating more affordable housing in the Triangle.  The program was moderated by Michelle McDonough Winters of ULI’s Terwilliger Center on Housing, who presented compelling statistics on the growing need for affordable housing and its importance to the economic and social well-being of our communities.  Michelle also talked about the barriers to building more affordable housing, including construction and land cost, parking requirements and neighborhood resistance.

Michelle was joined by Larry Jarvis, Director of Housing & Neighborhood Development for the City of Raleigh, and Dustin Mills, Vice President of Taft Development Group, a for-profit developer of affordable communities.  Larry presented an overview of Raleigh’s new affordable housing plan and goals.  The City is aggressively trying to increase supply of affordable housing, and Larry highlighted seven “options” the City is using to address the housing needs.  Dustin discussed the challenges and complexities of financing and building affordable units from the developer’s viewpoint, including complexity and competition for low-income tax credits, which are critical to make these projects feasible.

Following the program, Gregg Warren and Natalie Britt of DHIC led a tour of Water Garden and explained the deal structure in detail.

View Michelle Winter’s presentation

View City of Raleigh Affordable Housing Improvement Plan

View City of Raleigh Affordable Housing Location Policy