Chapel Hill launches affordable housing loan fund, plans to create 600 housing units

On Feb. 13, the Town of Chapel Hill launched a $20 million affordable housing loan fund to support the preservation and creation of over 600 housing units over the next 20 years.

To create the fund, the Town is partnering with UNC Health and Self-Help Ventures Fund,a community development institution that works with affordable housing developments in the Triangle. 

In 2023, the Town passed their Affordable Housing Plan and Investment Strategy and committed $5.7 million to start the fund. By working with UNC Health and Self-Help Ventures Fund, the Town was able to attract investors to complete the remaining funding.

Sarah Viñas, the Town's affordable housing and community connections director, said organizations can use the fund to either acquire an existing affordable housing community to preserve or build new affordable housing.

The creation of more affordable housing reduces the upward pressure of housing prices in the area that impact the entire community, Chapel Hill Town Council Member Theodore Nollert said.

“You’re also increasing the tax base value of the town, which means you're generating more incremental revenue every year off of the same property," he said. "And that opens up money to spend on parks, on the transit system, on street improvements, on affordable housing — all the things that people care about."

Viñas said her hope is that the fund will focus more on the preservation of affordable housing since there would not have been any other tools available to stop the loss of housing in the area. The fund will help eliminate the displacement of community members, especially those that have become a part of the local community and want to stay in the area, she said. 

“There's a lot of apartment complexes that are aging due to their age and other factors, and their rent may be naturally a little bit lower," she said. "It’s a really valuable source of affordable housing in the community where many lower households live."

UNC Health President Janet Hadar said although the hospital financially contributes to the fund, they do not determine how funds are administered. She said UNC Health wants to make employees aware of the fund's benefits. 

"It's not uncommon that we have employees that drive from several counties over to come to Chapel Hill to work because they can't afford to live and raise a family in this community," she said.

With conversations about the fund happening now, Viñas said new developments could happen as early as in a few months and that the Town wants to give affordable housing developers quick access to resources and funding.

Affordable housing progress over the next 10 years will depend on general housing development in Chapel Hill, Nollert said.

“If we truly are going to fulfill our mission of promoting the health and well-being of communities that we serve, then kind of got to put our money where our passion is," Hadar said.

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