In April 2024, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously expressed support for the Longleaf Trace affordable housing community. On April 17, the Town Council approved a conditional rezoning of the parcel located at 1708 and 1712 Legion Road and on April 24, the Council approved $950,000 in affordable housing funding for the project. The Taft-Mills Group is developing the project in partnership with the Community Home Trust. The project will include 48 affordable apartments for seniors earning less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI)—12 of those units will serve households earning 30 percent or less of AMI.
The project is applying for a 2024 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) award, which could bring more than $10 million in funding to the project. With that award, the Town’s funding commitment would represent less than 10 percent of project funding. Since 2022, the Town has achieved its goal of securing this competitive funding source every year and has developed a pipeline of LIHTC project applications planned for at least the next five years.
This is the first project to use the Town’s expedited review process for affordable housing, which Council approved in November 2023. The process offers a streamlined development review process for residential projects that include at least 25 percent of units as affordable. The project went through the Town’s process in 4 months total, a substantial reduction from the 18 months typically required for applicants to move through the Town’s development review process.
