Asheville voted for $20 million affordable housing bond. Half may be loaned to a nonprofit
This story has been updated to include more information.
ASHEVILLE - After voters overwhelmingly approved an $80 million general obligation bond package in November, the city of Asheville is considering loaning $10 million approved for affordable housing development to a nonprofit that runs a new regional affordable housing fund.
City staff say the loan could expand the reach of public funds as affordable housing developers from across the region will be eligible to apply.
A quarter of the GO bond package — $20 million — was approved to go toward affordable housing projects as the city has faced a housing crisis for years. Asheville-area Fair Market Rent, which is projected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was the highest in the state for four years until it declined slightly in 2025. Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area was projected to be $1,347 a month.
Half of the $20 million may go to a Durham-based nonprofit in the form of an interest-free loan, city staff said during a July 30 Housing and Community Development Committee meeting. The fund is relatively new, but is the fifth affordable housing fund created by Self-Help Credit Union.
In February, Self-Help Credit Union announced the creation of the Western North Carolina Affordable Housing Loan Fund, which will offer loans to nonprofit and for-profit developers of affordable housing serving households earning 80% or less of the area median income. A four-person family earning $74,500 in Asheville would quality, according to HUD projections.
Dogwood Health Trust invested $40 million to start the fund and the nonprofit said the goal is to use funds for both short-term and long-term loans. Self-Help also has funds in Durham, Greensboro, Chapel Hill and Wake County.
Previous loans provided by the company have supported land acquisitions for affordable housing, purchasing an extended-stay hotel to convert to permanent supportive housing and acquisition of a Brownfields site for redevelopment, Self-Help's Housing Sector Leader JJ Froehlich said during the meeting.
The company has already closed one loan in the WNC fund, city of Asheville Affordable Housing Officer Sasha Vrtunski, who noted the fund is essentially a larger version of a pre-existing city program that has previously received bond funds.
Mimics program for city low-income residents
As part of the 2016 GO bond, Asheville set $25 million toward affordable housing allocating $11 million to the Housing Trust Fund, a program created in 2000 that provides low-interest loans for housing developments that serve low- and moderate-income residents. That program has built over 1,300 affordable housing units, according to the city.
The WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund is the "next step in the evolution" of the city's Housing Trust Fund, Asheville's Community and Economic Development Director Nikki Reid said, where Self-Help's staff could help fill gaps in positions the city does not have, like commercial lenders.
The city would provide the $10 million as a 0% interest loan, enabling Self-Help to get more capital from institutions like banks, Vrtunski said. It could increase the number of affordable housing projects in the area.
"Because it's leveraging those other private dollars, it will expand the number of projects the fund can support. It ensures our dollars go further," Vrtunski said.
The fund would provide loans for developers in Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey counties and on the Qualla Boundary.
The other $10 million from the 2024 affordable housing bond would go toward three other programs: $1 million to a pre-disaster home repair program, $6 million to the Housing Trust Fund and $3 million to affordable housing projects.
The city is also set to spend $28 million from its $225 million Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds on affordable multi-family housing construction. HUD approved the city's plan for the funds in May.
Staff plan to bring bond recomendations before City Council in August, according to a presentation during the July 30 meeting.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.