'We are over-the-moon excited': Chapel Hill receives more than $10 million to rebuild affordable housing development

Replacing the 54-unit Trinity Court Community is projected to cost $14 million through a public-private partnership between the town of Chapel Hill and Community Housing Partners. The tax credit is expected to cover more than $10 million of the total.

“We are over-the-moon excited,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger. “Being able to produce affordable housing on town-owned property in a location that is incredible is really a win-win-win for everyone."

The plan is to replace the 40 existing units that have sat vacant since 2018, according to town documents.

Hemminger said the tax credit, which operates like a grant, couldn’t have come at a better time.

Chapel Hill's Affordable Housing Development Officer Emily Holt said affordable housing projects face a unique challenge.

"Costs are going up, up, up, but your rents have to stay flat,” Holt said.

Hemminger echoed Holt’s sentiments about increasing costs.

"It's one of the main ways we have now to get funding to make these housing affordable,” Hemminger said. “It's really hard in today's economy to build affordable housing.

“Prices have gone through the roof [and] supply chain issues, so we've moved towards using town-owned properties to reduce the cost of building affordable units, but it wasn't enough."

Holt said the project could not happen as planned without the award.

"Investors from financial institutions are able to invest in a project and get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit back, so they're paying less taxes, and they're helping build affordable housing here,” Holt said.

Two projects submitted to receive tax credits in Orange County – Jay Street (Taft-Mills) and Indigo (DHIC) – did not receive the award this cycle. The project teams will be considering options for how to advance both projects, including the possibility of resubmitting an application for the 9% tax credit cycle in 2023.