Believe it or not, I do not spend all of my time reading meeting agendas and building permits (just about 90-percent). I also enjoy watching live music. Last week, I saw War Against Drugs at the Rabbit Rabbit in Asheville, which I count as Savannah Agenda’s sister city. A friend and I stayed at a $90 hotel in the middle of downtown with Yuki, my four-pawed assistant.
It was only about three blocks from the venue, an open air site that accommodates about 4,000 people. I was looking forward to that cool mountain air, but, unfortunately, that 90-plus heat followed me up from down south. To cool off I simply pressed a cold beer to my forehead and recalled the cold dip I took at High Falls at Dupont State Forest earlier that day. The band started around 7:30 and played until after the sun finally dipped down behind the stage around 9:30, allowing for the light show to be seen in full bloom.
The heat is not the only thing Asheville has in common with Savannah these days. The city is also facing an affordable housing crisis and, little did I know, one example of the city’s methods for addressing the issue was taking shape down the street from where I stayed while in town.
During the Asheville City Council’s meeting on June 14, the council approved a Land Use Incentive Grant for Hilliard Flats LLC for a downtown housing development on the site of a closed convenience store, about a block or two from where I caught the show. The proposed five-story, 80-unit micro housing development, with shared laundry, kitchen and lounge facilities, includes sixteen units that would be deeded affordable for 20 years. “Affordable” in this case means the units would serve individuals and families earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The incentive includes a provision in which the property owner is granted the difference in property taxes currently paid and what would be paid following the project’s completion, for a set period of time. In this case, the city currently receives $787 a year in taxes for the property and the tax would be about $29,000 following the $7.2 million construction. The difference of $28,228 would be granted to the property annually for 21 years – amounting to a total of $592,790 and a subsidy of 37,049 per unit.
The project has spurred some concerns, however, that the development will be detrimental to the historically Black neighborhoods that surround it, according to Citizen Times article. This too reflects similar concerns about displacement in Savannah. Still, as the Savannah City Council seeks to add more affordable housing to Savannah, perhaps this type of subsidy is worth looking into, if city officials are not already doing so.
Meanwhile, people like my friend, who lives about 10 miles outside of downtown are worried such housing initiatives are too little too late. As the owner of a dog sitting business (I highly recommend Snitterdog if you live in Asheville) she is worried about being priced out in the near future.
Perhaps, that empty mansion everyone likes to gawk at, I’m talking about the Biltmore Estate, could serve as actual housing. At least for the employees. It’s time we put better use to valuable space.