Durham Community Land Trustees Secures Affordable Apartments, Plans More Affordable Housing

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Good morning, readers.

Here’s one reason why the rent is too damn high: imagine you’re a real estate investor and you just bought an apartment building in the hot Durham market. How do you make a quick profit on your massive investment?

You slap on a new coat of paint, you put in granite countertops, and you raise the rent.

But the new landlord at 1600 Anderson Street has a different strategy. This summer, the nonprofit Durham Community Land Trustees bought the 48-unit apartment building for the sole purpose of keeping the apartments affordable. 

“It’s been a long road,” says executive director Sherry Taylor. “I’ve been with DCLT for four years, and for four years, I’ve been trying to purchase an apartment complex for the organization.”

Mission-driven groups like DCLT are in a race against market forces when a property becomes available. And because DCLT is a nonprofit, it starts behind other developers who can quickly pull together large sums of cash and loans that give them a competitive advantage.

But because one of the previous owner’s concerns was that tenants would be forced to leave after a sale, DCLT forged a relationship with the previous owner of the Anderson Street apartments and pitched themselves as the perfect buyer. The nonprofit also acquired 2.28 acres of land nearby and has plans to develop new townhomes for households earning 80 percent or below the area median income. 

Through DCLT’s stewardship, both sites will remain affordable going forward.

Check out the the full story here.

And have a good Tuesday.

—Chase

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