On November 29, the Town Council unanimously approved the commitment of $715,000 to establish an Affordable Housing Loan Fund. This funding will supplement an initial $5 million loan from UNC Health that was committed as part of their rezoning approval in June 2023 for a new Medical Office Campus at Eastowne. The combined $5.7 million commitments provide seed funding for an Affordable Housing Loan Fund that will support the acquisition, preservation, and creation of affordable housing in Chapel Hill. With this initial funding in place, a fund administrator will work to attract additional investment with the goal of reaching a fund total of at least $20 Million. The Town expects a fund of that size to support at least 600 affordable housing units.
The Town has selected Self-Help Ventures Fund as the administrator of the Affordable Housing Loan Fund. Self-Help is a leading national Community Development Financial Institute (CDFI) with extensive lending and underwriting experience, as well as affordable housing development experience across the Triangle and state of North Carolina. Self-Help is currently the fund administrator for three other affordable housing loan funds in the Triangle area: Wake County, Durham, and Greensboro.
As Fund Administrator, Self-Help will oversee the review, evaluation, and underwriting of funding applications and the monitoring of all loans issued. The Town will report on the status of the fund as part of their Affordable Housing Quarterly Reporting.
The Town will now work with Self-Help to refine the details of the fund and its loan products with a goal of launching the fund by summer 2024.
