New affordable housing community opens in Chapel Hill

Affordable housing just became more accessible in Chapel Hill, thanks to the town and non-profit community developer DHIC, Inc.

The Town of Chapel Hill donated the land on Legion Road for the site of a new 80-unit affordable housing development, Greenfield Place Apartments. This is the first phase of a two-phase project, which will include 69 apartments restricted to limited-income seniors in Greenfield Commons for a total of 149 affordable units. Greenfield Place Apartments joins 15 other affordable housing communities in Chapel Hill.

Greenfield Place Apartments were completed by DHIC in late 2017 and opened earlier this year to moderate and low-income families. Households with earnings less than 60 percent of the area's median income are able to rent these apartments. In Orange County, this means that a family of four earning $48,360 or less annually will be eligible to live at Greenfield Place.

Gregg Warren, DHIC’s president and CEO, expressed his excitement about the completion of the new community.

“We are very pleased to celebrate Greenfield Place and the many public and private partners who made this $12.8 million development possible and affordable for 80 modest income households,” Warren said. “Now more than ever, the Triangle is in need of significant investment in affordable housing, and the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County really stepped up to the plate with the Greenfield community.”

Rent at Greenfield Place ranges from $271 to $870, depending on the size of the unit and household income. According to Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, certain units will be reserved for households with earnings less than 30 percent, or in some cases 80 percent, of the area's median income.

“The town has been integral in over 1,000 units of affordable housing,” Hemminger said. “We have a strategic plan to do 400 units in five years, and we’re well along the first year of that plan. So we hope to explore even more opportunities like this."

Natalie Britt, project manager for Greenfield Place and vice president of real estate development at DHIC, stressed that in addition to affordability, accessibility is what separates Greenfield Place from other standard apartments complexes.

Britt said that many of the new residents of Greenfield Place work for the University. Five residents work for UNC Health Care and five more are employed at Carolina Dining Services. Other residents work in childcare and for the Orange County school system. The location of Greenfield gives its residents the opportunity to live where they work.

Greenfield Place is a 15-minute walk to Eastgate Shopping Center and a 20 minute bus ride to the Chapel Hill Public Library. It is on the Chapel Hill Transit D Route, which takes passengers to Franklin Street and UNC’s campus.

“It’s on a couple of bus lines, and it’s not far from shopping, retail and other services,” Britt said. “They are very energy-efficient apartments, and everything is brand new. We often talk about housing expenses, because it’s not just rent. It’s rent plus utilities. So we feel like folks will be able to save on that as well.”