Raleigh approves 28 affordable downtown apartments on city land

Raleigh is betting that a small but strategically placed housing project can keep more workers, seniors and disabled residents close to jobs, transit and daily essentials in the city’s core. The question now is how far 28 apartments on city-owned land can go in a downtown market where affordability remains tight and market-rate pressure continues to push lower-income households outward.

Raleigh City Council approved a recommendation to partner with Local Post on the project on June 16, clearing the way for 28 affordable rental homes on the corner of East and Cabarrus streets. The homes are targeted to households earning between 30% and 60% of area median income. For a family of four, the city said, 60% of area median income is $79,380. Eight of the homes will be reserved for people with disabilities earning below 50% of area median income, giving the project both an income limit and a specific accessibility focus.

To make the project work financially, the council approved $1,239,762 in gap financing, including $1,000,000 from the 2020 Affordable Housing Bond and $239,762 in designated affordable housing funds. Raleigh said the deal will also rely on a long-term land lease, a structure meant to keep the homes affordable for decades instead of only at opening. That approach reflects a broader city strategy: use public land to create permanent housing in a high-opportunity area rather than reserve the best downtown sites for higher-priced development alone.

City leaders have used that same playbook before. Raleigh previously backed the Pines at Peach Road project with bond funds and a 75-year lease, and it launched a small-scale rental pilot in 2021 using 2020 Affordable Housing Bond money and city-owned downtown lots. Those efforts fit into the city’s 2026-2030 Affordable Housing Plan and its $80 million Affordable Housing Bond, which is aimed at households at 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% of area median income.

The East Cabarrus project also arrives against a larger accountability test. Raleigh’s 2016 goal was to create or preserve 5,700 affordable homes by 2026, and the city’s dashboard says it has reached 3,848 so far. The city has also pointed to the 2020 bond referendum, which won approval from 72% of Raleigh voters, as evidence of broad backing for housing investment. On downtown land that could have gone another direction, Raleigh is again choosing long-term affordability as a public use, not just a development outcome.