The Town of Chapel Hill is excited to announce that the Homestead Gardens mixed-income affordable housing development (2200 Homestead Rd.) has received a $2 million Community Development Fund grant from the Community Project Funding (CPF) program. The Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus spending bill, which the President signed into law on March 11, 2022, includes $1.5 billion in CPF funds, also described as congressional earmarks for local community development projects.
“I’m proud to have secured money in the (U.S.) House to fund the new affordable housing units in the development,” said Congressman David Price (NC-04) after visiting the site. “Developments like Homestead Gardens are an important step in ensuring our neighbors have access to housing. Homestead Gardens was one of ten requests submitted by Congressman Price in April 2021. The FY22 omnibus bill includes all ten of the CPF requests Congressman Price submitted.
“Chapel Hill and our community partners are excited about creating 120 new, affordable homes for individuals and families at Homestead Gardens,” said Mayor Pam Hemminger. “With the help of this funding, we are one step closer to making this project a reality.”
The Homestead Gardens project is one of the Town’s first efforts to develop affordable housing on Town land as a strategic way of addressing the critical need for affordable housing in Chapel Hill. The project represents a unique partnership between the Town and four local affordable housing partners—Self-Help Ventures Fund, CASA, Community Home Trust, and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. These partners formed the Homestead Housing Collaborative to achieve the project’s vision of an inclusive, mixed-income community offering a variety of housing types that serve a variety of housing needs.
Since 2018, the Town has been working closely with the Collaborative and its design team—CJT, PA and MHAWorks, PA— to design and plan the project. Chapel Hill Town Council approved the Homestead Gardens development plan in May 2021, which includes about 120 units of affordable apartments, townhomes, and duplexes surrounded by community amenities, such as a multi-use greenway, a basketball court, and a community garden. The project is scheduled to break ground in 2022.
To learn more about this project and the Town’s other affordable housing efforts, visit chapelhillaffordablehousing.org.
