Asheville's Lady Gloria Ridge Affordable Housing Complex Nears Opening Downtown

Lora Downs has a housing voucher, two kids named Kimora and Prosper, and a rent situation she describes plainly: "It's just becoming too much." The Lady Gloria Ridge Community on West Haywood Street, just outside downtown Asheville, is about to change that.

The 41-unit permanently affordable building received a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on Feb. 27, and its first tenants moved in by the end of this week, with additional residents staggered through March and April. Downs, who currently rents a house near downtown and previously lived in public housing, said she can use her housing voucher at Lady Gloria Ridge and expects the lower utility costs to save her several hundred dollars a month.

The building is the first project completed by Haywood Street Community Development, the affordable housing nonprofit created by Haywood Street Congregation on West Haywood Street. Named for Gloria Howard Free (1933–2025), a beloved Asheville native who grew up on Clingman Avenue in the West End neighborhood, the complex sits at 343 West Haywood Street on the north end of the West End Clingman Avenue neighborhood, with a view of the mountains beyond.

Thirty-five of the 41 units are reserved for Housing Choice Voucher holders whose income falls between 30% and 50% of the area median income. The remaining six target workforce housing at 60% and 80% AMI. With Asheville's median income at $65,188, that means an eligible one-person household at 80% AMI earns around $52,150 annually; at 50% AMI, the threshold drops to $32,600. Haywood Street Community Development describes the building as intentionally "incongruous with traditional low-income housing," featuring sunset balconies and granite countertops rather than what it calls "minimum standards."

The project, a public-private partnership with committed funding from Buncombe County, the City of Asheville, and Dogwood HealthTrust, carries a total cost of $12,452,105. Haywood Street Community Development set a fundraising goal of $2,500,000 to help close that gap.

Move-in was originally expected by the end of 2025 after the project broke ground in February 2024. Delays, driven primarily by elevator installation and related inspections, pushed the timeline into early 2026. April Nance of Haywood Street Congregation said the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy remains temporary only because minor exterior work is still pending, work that does not affect residents' ability to move in.

The building was officially consecrated on October 21, 2025, under a white tent on West Haywood Street. Nance reflected on what comes next: "Blessing the ground, marveling at the construction process, and dedicating the building were all wonderful, but nothing will compare to seeing families move into the space and officially call it home."

Those seeking to apply can mail materials to Lady Gloria Ridge, PO Box 1004, Asheville, NC 28802; email jmcalister@givenscommunities.org; or fax to 828-623-9440. To schedule an in-person appointment, call 828-767-2618. For questions about the application process or assistance completing the form, call 828-570-5708.