By Jessica Levco
In 2017 and 2018, researchers at UNCG’s Center for Housing and Community Studies traced a cluster of asthma cases to Avalon Trace, an aging apartment complex in East Greensboro next to the Willow Oaks neighborhood.
The complex was full of problems, like aging sewer and water pipes, leaky roofs, old carpeting, and poor air quality from HVAC units. Stephen Sills, who directed the center at the time, said a group of partners that included the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro (CFGG) helped push the sale of the complex to a local developer. The foundation put in money to match city funds, and the new owner was able to rehab the complex to make it safer and better for residents, without drastically raising rents.
The 176-unit property is now called Cottage Gardens, an example of what housing experts call naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH): older apartments and houses that rent or sell below market rates without any government subsidy. CFGG leaders say preserving those homes protects a neighborhood’s character and keeps longtime residents from being displaced. It can also pay off for the investors and developers who take it on.
“We tend to just focus on new units, new units, new units,” said Walker Sanders, president of CFGG. “But new units are expensive to build. We need to have more conversations about how to save older homes and apartment complexes, and bring them up to modern standards.”
Greensboro is losing affordable housing options
Greensboro loses about 800 NOAH units a year, according to the city’s Housing GSO analysis. Some are torn down, but many more are bought by outside investors, renovated and re-rented at prices the people living there can’t pay. At the same time, the city wants to add housing. The Road to 10,000, launched by City Manager Trey Davis, grew out of a Bowen National Research study that found Guilford County needs at least 30,000 more housing units. Greensboro took on a third of that goal.
“Whether that’s single family detached or multifamily or duplexes, we want it all,” said Samuel Hunter, the city’s housing strategy and development director. The initiative recently passed its halfway mark, according to the city’s Road to 10,000 dashboard.
But the 10,000 goal counts homes at every price point, and new affordable units take years to finance and build.
Who qualifies for affordable housing?
Affordable housing generally means a household spends no more than 30% of its income on rent or mortgage, plus utilities. When Greensboro city officials talk about affordable housing, it means homes for households earning at or below 80% of the area median income. Hunter said that’s a family of three earning up to about $68,000.
Toyota’s battery plant, JetZero and Boom Supersonic are bringing jobs, but Sanders said housing plans tend to focus on middle-management and C-suite salaries.
“The executives are always going to find a place to live,” Sanders said. “But the people who are making below $68,000 are going to need to find homes, too.”
North Carolina has 38 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, down from 41 the year before, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2026 Gap report. Nearly half of North Carolina renters, 49%, are cost-burdened, according to the N.C. Housing Coalition. Guilford County’s rate is similar, Sanders said.
Why developers and investors should consider preservation
Fixing an existing building costs far less than building a new one. For example, Affordable Housing Management, Inc. (AHMI), a 56-year-old Greensboro nonprofit, is finishing a new community off Vandalia and Groometown roads. The total cost of that is over $20 million to complete. At the same time, the nonprofit is fully rehabbing an existing affordable community it owns for just under $11 million, with comparable quality.
CFGG is focused on new construction and preservation. The Greensboro Housing Loan Fund, a public-private partnership with the city, targets $32.5 million in lending for for-profit and nonprofit developers of multifamily housing. About $21 million has been raised, including $5 million from city housing bonds. Two community development financial institutions run it: Institute Capital (ICAP), with $8 million for developers who often can’t get mainstream financing, and Self-Help Ventures Fund, with $13 million in gap financing for preservation and new construction.
Only 3% of the loan fund currently goes to preserving NOAH. That’s why CFGG is raising money for a new fund focused only on preservation. CFGG also funds Community Housing Solutions, which repairs homes for low-income homeowners, and CFGG’s Women to Women giving circle has made housing its largest investment of XYZ.
The city is also getting involved in preservation. The city has its own preservation tool for older properties built under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, whose 20-plus-year affordability periods are now expiring. Hunter said the city offers rehab financing in exchange for extending those periods.
How to get involved
There are several ways to get involved and make a difference in the affordable housing discussion. People and institutions who want to invest in the CFGG preservation fund can call the foundation. Developers interested in rehab projects should contact the city. And residents can make a difference by showing up at rezoning meetings and city housing road shows.
“Affordable housing is an issue that affects everyone,” Hunter said. “We need private investment to leverage the public investment, but we also need residents to come out and speak about what they want to happen in their community.”
