The Homestead Housing Collaborative
Chapel Hill, NC
Overview and Vision
It’s no secret that Chapel Hill faces an affordability crisis, with a severe shortage of affordable home rental and ownership opportunities. Homestead Gardens is a public-private partnership to address housing market inequities by providing an opportunity for those who work in low- and middle-income jobs to live near their work and provide access to Chapel Hill’s celebrated public school system.
Homestead Gardens will be located on publicly-owned land at 2200 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. The project’s vision is to develop an inclusive, mixed-income community offering a variety of housing types that serve a range of incomes, with a priority on households with few options in the local housing market. CASA is developing two rental communities as part of Homestead Gardens: 32 2- and 3-bedroom units in collaboration with UNC Horizons to serve mothers with children recovering from substance use, and 22 1-bedroom workforce units for those earning a low wage.
Homestead Gardens will feature mixed-income affordable rental and homeownership units serving a wide range of households. The community is being developed collaboratively as a public-private partnership by four long standing local nonprofits—Self-Help, CASA, Community Home Trust, and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County—in close cooperation with the Town of Chapel Hill and UNC Horizons.
Community Features
Homestead Gardens will include a diverse, mutually supportive community of residents, from mothers overcoming substance abuse disorders to people in need of workforce rental housing to middle income first-time homebuyers.
In addition to building attractive, high quality multifamily, townhome and duplex housing for rent and sale, the neighborhood will include a variety of amenities, such as
- a multi-use Town greenway extension
- on site walking trails
- a basketball court
- playground space
- picnic areas
- connections to a planned community garden on adjacent land
Who will live at Homestead Gardens?
Homestead Gardens will serve households earning from well under 30% of Area Median Income (< $21,000 annually for a 2-person household) to 115% AMI (~ $79,000). Almost two-thirds of homes will be rented or sold to households earning less than 60% AMI.
CASA is constructing 54 apartments at Homestead Gardens, 32 of which will be for families served by UNC Horizons. If you’re interested in learning more about living at Homestead Gardens, please sign up for our email update list below. We will alert you via email when our applications open.