A $10.1 million affordable housing project in Durham is now complete.
Local nonprofit Reinvestment Partners finished their renovations of Maple Creek Apartments last Friday. They bought the property in 2019 and have spent the intervening years updating its amenities and utilities for the 42 affordable units, according to a City of Durham press release.
Reginald Johnson, director of the city's Community Development Department, said the change is stark.
“They were damaged, they had asbestos, they didn't look aesthetically pleasing to the eye,” he said. “Now they are beautiful.”
The City of Durham contributed more than $6 million as part of its Forever Home Durham initiative to invest in affordable housing.
“We set aside (the money) — I think it was to … create 1,600 units of affordable housing,” Johnson said of the initiative. “This is one of those 1,600 units, these 42.”
Thirty-three of the apartments will be rented out to families earning up to 60% of the area's median income, or about $48,180 per year for a family of four. And nine units will be held for those earning up to 30% of the area's median income, or $31,770 for a family of four.
The project comes at a time when homelessness in the city is on the rise and, according to a North Carolina Housing Coalition report, 47% of renters struggle to afford their homes.
Johnson underlined the importance of affordable housing as the city grows.
“Here in Durham, we have one of the hottest markets in the country,” he said. “Meta is here, Google is here, Amazon is here — all of these major companies that are bringing people in.”
Those transplants tend to have higher wages than many of the people already living here, Johnson added.
While the project at Maple Creek is complete, he said the recent flip-flopping tariffs from the Trump administration may increase the price of building future affordable housing in the city.
Other partners of this project included:
- North Carolina Housing Finance Agency
- Alliance Health
- Duke University
- Truist Bank
- Self-Help Ventures Fund
- Former U.S. Representative David Price
- Durham Soil & Water Conservation District
