City of Apex to tackle the affordable housing crisis using the popular model

Apex, NC (WTVD) – It was a unanimous vote at the meeting of the September 9 council in Apex when the leaders decided to form a community property trust. As part of the Community Land Trust (CLT), the city would rent land that it has a developer for 99 years to encourage the construction of affordable housing. Buyers could then buy the property, but the land would remain in possession of the city. The amount of the property would exclude the value evaluated for the field.

For example, if a house of $ 400,000 was sitting on a field with an evaluation value of $ 100.00, then the house buyer would buy the house for $ 300,000.

“We will try to acquire as many land as possible. And we have land that are in the bank with the city at the moment,” said the mayor of Apex, Jacques Gilbert.

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The city has 13 acres on South Hughes Street next to the Stone Glen apartments complex. “So we take advantage of these opportunities. But if we could simply set up units, use it like a momentum, I think we can have some success at the front,” added Gilbert.

The director of community commitment of the city, Marla Newman, led the presentation at the meeting of the council last week.

“We were to be definitely more and more when it comes to providing appropriate affordable housing as a community,” said advisor Audra Killingsworth. She told ABC11 that previous conversations with city leaders led her to believe that there were not enough options available for all income levels, mainly in the affordable housing area. Consequently, the community model of land trust made sense as an attractive option.

“We are talking about longevity.

In the triangle, there are community land trust in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Gilbert and Killingsworth said they had examined how many municipalities used their CLTs.

“It’s my hometown. I want as many people to take advantage of it as possible,” said Gilbert. “So having people to continue to say:” Hey, Apex, North Carolina, is it affordable for me to live there? “, Well, how do we answer? We put a solution on the table. And that is why we are going to do it.”

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International Center for Community Land Trust said there were more than 600 community land trusts worldwide with half of the United States.

“It is due to the increase in the non-deputy housing that people are looking for long-term solutions,” said executive director Greg Rosenberg. “And it is very common for municipalities to associate with cities in particular by associating with public land. Because with inflation and prices of land which can reduce or eliminate the cost of land, it is a huge contribution to affordability.”

The City is trying to start training a board of directors of its community land trust in November in order to finalize the members, to create an operating and statutes agreement by February. The requests for construction proposals should start in June.

Mayor Gilbert would not engage on a specific date but expects to see the construction start in 2026.