Black Mountain land trust aims to add 50 affordable homes

A Black Mountain land trust is trying to turn Helene recovery into a long-term way for displaced families to stay in the Swannanoa Valley. Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders and local partners are building Roots, a community land trust on 10 acres off Blue Ridge Road at 399 Blue Ridge Road, with plans for 50 homes and shared space that could include a community garden, a playground, green space and dog parks.

The model is built to keep the homes affordable after they are sold. Buyers would own their houses, but the land would remain in trust, which is meant to hold down resale prices for the next family and prevent the property from drifting into the open market. The group says that structure can help lower- and moderate-income residents stay near jobs, schools and support networks in Buncombe County, where housing costs have climbed and the storm pushed even more families toward instability.

The need is clear across the county. Buncombe County says its housing recovery effort is focused on temporary housing, repairs and long-term permanent housing solutions. FEMA data cited by the county showed Helene damaged 11,065 residential units in Buncombe County. A March 2025 point-in-time count found 2,303 people experiencing homelessness in Asheville and Buncombe County, including 1,548 people in FEMA-paid hotel rooms under Transitional Sheltering Assistance, and Helene survivors made up more than two-thirds of that total.

Roots was introduced during an April 29 gathering that brought together about 15 local high school students, school staff, members of the Rotary Club of Black Mountain Swannanoa and representatives from Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders. The project’s name is an acronym for Resilience, Opportunity, Ownership, Trust and Stability. Fuller Center says the first 35 homes could move ahead once final permits are approved, and it has already held an information session for prospective buyers at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.

The project is backed by an $850,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, and Nathan West, who oversees Fuller Center’s Western North Carolina operations, said he began studying community land trusts in 2020 because housing had become too expensive for many working families. Fuller Center says it had already restored or repaired more than 30 homes in Buncombe and Yancey counties before launching Roots. The exact unit count has been described publicly in different ways, from 50 homes to 56, but the core plan has stayed the same: keep land in trust so Helene recovery does not end with displacement.