DreamKey Partners’s proposed development is chosen for a $2M impact investment
CHARLOTTE, N.C., September 12, 2017 – At a time when Charlotte’s need for affordable housing is so great and the funding to build it is so scarce, a new model to finance its development could be the solution. Local congregation, Covenant Presbyterian Church (“Covenant”), has made a bold move towards redefining how the faith community responds to our City’s housing crisis.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, Inc. (“DreamKey Partners”) was recently selected by Covenant to be the recipient of a $2 million investment for a proposed mixed income development on Freedom Drive. “Our church views decent and safe housing as a critical foundation to humanity,” said Bob Henderson, Covenant’s senior pastor. “Covenant hopes to make an impact that will increase awareness of and advocacy for households with affordable housing needs by creating a model to finance its development that other organizations can replicate.”
The proposed project will serve tenants in the 30, 50, 60 and 80 of area median income (AMI) ranges as well as market-rate tenants. Seventy percent of the total units will be affordable with rents for the one to three-bedroom units ranging from $348 to $900 per month for families at or below 60 percent of AMI. The proposed site on Freedom Drive adjoins a property with a brand new charter school and an existing grocery store, Compare Foods. There are multiple CATS bus stops within a quarter-mile of the proposed development served by two prominent bus routes.
“DreamKey Partners is grateful for and excited by the opportunity to partner with Covenant Presbyterian,” said Julie Porter, president of DreamKey Partners. “The congregation is leading the way in creating a model for faith-based communities to directly improve outcomes for low-income families.” In addition to Covenant, the development includes partnerships with The Movement Foundation that has developed the adjacent property for its Movement Charter School and Marsh Properties.
ABOUT DreamKey Partners
DreamKey Partners is a broad-based, private, nonprofit housing development and financial corporation organized in 1988 to expand affordable and well-maintained housing and promote stable neighborhoods for low- and moderate-income families in the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The agency provides assistance to residents of its properties to more fully enter the economic mainstream and achieve independence.