Hendersonville City Council approves affordable senior housing project on Greenville Hwy

At its April 4 meeting, Hendersonville City Council unanimously approved rezoning for a parcel of land on the corner of Chadwick Avenue and Greenville Highway for developers to build an affordable housing complex for seniors called The Lofts at Chadwick.

The vote came after the Planning Board's March meeting where members voted 4-2 to recommend City Council to deny the project.

The three-story complex at 904 Greenville Highway will consist of 60 units in an L-shaped multi-family structure with a proposed footprint of 24,500 square feet and a gross floor area of 73,500 square feet on 2.25 acres. The current property owner is Brett Barry of Gordon Dooley Holdings LLC. The applicant, Stephen Drake of BroadCraft Construction & Development in Mills River, proposed 70 parking spaces in the latest site plan.

"We voted to support a senior affordable housing project across the street from the YMCA. Every time I drive past that development, I'm actually happy that we supported something like that for this community," council member Jennifer Hensley said. "The waitlist for senior housing is insane."

Lynne Williams, who lives off Chadwick Avenue, spoke during public comment and told council members they had the opportunity to vote no on the project and should consider more of the residents' feedback.

"The Tree Board previously deemed this property to be incompatible with this type of development. Your Planning Board twice denied this type of density on this particular spot," she said.

Mayor Pro Team Lyndsey Simpson pointed out that there was only a limited number of properties left in the city that would qualify for low-income tax credit.

"If we were to deny a project like this, then it's possible there will be a 70-unit project that doesn't have any right of way and is going to cause more issues and create more of an impact on all the things you all have mentioned," she said.

Next steps

The Lofts at Chadwick still must receive funding allocation from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, Drake said.

"But it is our belief that the project as presented has a very good chance of being funded. We will know the outcome in mid to late August of this year," Drake told the Times-News on April 5. "If awarded, we will start final plan development and engage additionally needed due diligence immediately with the hopes of closing and starting construction about February 2025."

Drake said The Lofts at Chadwick will be a diverse community providing housing for those making at or less than 30%, 50%, 60%, and 80% of Henderson County's average median income.

"The apartment homes will be well appointed and have their own kitchens and patios or balconies. The building and grounds will be ADA compliant throughout," he said.

Drake said the developers wanted to thank the Community Development Planning Staff.

"They were very helpful in guiding us with a project design plan that fit our developments specific site constraints. This is not at all any easy task. They were very detailed and cooperative during the entire process," he said.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at [email protected]. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Greenville Highway senior housing project approved by City Council