Greensboro is one step closer to turning the old Regency Inn site into affordable housing.
A city-appointed review committee has recommended that Raleigh-based nonprofit DHIC Inc. get the opportunity to redevelop the long-vacant motel property at 2701 North O. Henry Blvd. If everything goes according to plan, the site will be transformed into 114 affordable housing units for seniors and families in two phases – with an estimated total development cost of over $29.5 million.
The Regency Inn, built in 1957, served for decades as a 58-unit roadside motel before it closed in 2021. It was later used for emergency shelter housing before being demolished last fall.
The site currently hosts the city’s Summer Doorway Project, a seasonal effort that provides shelter and services to the homeless.
The first phase of DHIC’s proposal includes a 54-unit building reserved for seniors. A second phase would bring 60 family units spread across three structures. All of the apartments will be reserved for households earning 30, 50 or 60 percent of the area’s median income.
A dozen of those units will meet ADA accessibility standards.
In recent years the problems of homelessness and affordable housing in Greensboro and Guilford County have become extreme – and those may be a bigger problem in the future as mega projects like JetZero draw more people to the area. That’s why Greensboro and Guilford County both have several initiatives in work meant to address the problem.
Raleigh-based nonprofit DHIC, Inc. – formerly known as Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation – has been building affordable housing communities across North Carolina for over a half a century. The non-profit focuses on helping low- and moderate-income families, seniors, and individuals get a good place to live. The group has developed thousands of rental units and single-family homes since its founding in 1974 and it also operates a homeownership center that’s helped put more than 2,000 first-time buyers into homes.
The city picked DHIC from seven contenders. It’s regarded as one of the state’s most experienced and respected affordable housing developers.
“There were several strong and interesting proposals reviewed by the committee,” said Assistant Greensboro City Manager Nasha McCray regarding the selection of the Raleigh-based non-profit. “Many in our city are excited to see this property move to the next stage of development and to partner with an accomplished developer such as DHIC.”
DHIC President Yolanda Winstead echoed that optimism: “DHIC is excited to have been selected to repurpose the former Regency Inn property… We look forward to helping the City of Greensboro implement the goals of its Housing GSO plan.”
The city’s review committee – which includes housing staff, local residents and a City Council representative – vetted the proposals before selecting DHIC.
The project now moves into a sketch-plan review to test its feasibility.
City-initiated rezoning is already underway.
Final approval, including terms of the property’s sale, will rest with the Greensboro City Council.
Officials say the Regency Inn project will make a meaningful contribution to Greensboro’s “Road to 10,000” initiative, a campaign to create or preserve 10,000 affordable housing units in the city.
“Transforming this site into homes will be a positive step,” said Cynthia Blue, assistant director of housing and strategy for the city. “This development also contributes to the accessibility and quality of attainable housing in Greensboro.”
If you want to see more information on the city’s housing plans, you can visit www.greensboro-nc.gov/HousingGSO.
Everyone is SO excited about this,why the heck wasn’t this done before Michelle Kennedy got involved and wasted so much taxpayer dollars Just asking, where the heck did all that previous money go
How many times has this been tried and not gotten off the ground? Seems like this idea has been around for years.
$258K per unit?
and this is after the City spent money to purchase the land and tear the old structure down.
I am pretty sure that 114 units could be built for less than that. Universities build student apartments for less per unit.
I’m thinking the city is already about 3 mil. In the whole from everything that’s already been spent. So much for Michelle Kennedy’s leadership. I’m still wondering what happened to the surplus John Deere Gator that was given to the Interactive Resource Center when she was the director. There’s graft and grifters
It is a pretty ghastly number. However, it’s important to consider that construction materials have been heavily impacted by inflation and supply chain issues. I’m sure that these could have been built for significantly less a few years ago, but not now. This price tag also surely includes engineering and plan reviews, not to mention overhead for all of the people doing the work. I would also expect/hope that there is some money built in for testing the soil and any potential remediation that may rear its ugly head. But that may be a little too optimistic lol.
is that the best location for low income high density housing ? it looks better used for commercial or industrial because that area is dog ugly, but not your dog.
Let’s check back in two years and measure the progress vs. the GOVERNMENT (ie, taxpayers) expenditure.
I can tell you what will happen over the next 2 years. A million spent on an environmental assessment, 2 million spent on site work and engineering, 3 million spent on site upgrades, throw in another 2 million for bidding, delays and the inevitable lawsuits. In summary, you won’t have much but will have spent about a third of the money.
A $29 million dollar “project” for thems on the dole. Oye como va.
Hear that sucking sound? You’ll never see those dollars again. Who is the real beneficary? Thought Greensboro would have used all their numerous DEI resources and not go to Raleigh.
Building this low-income housing project for elderly residents and families with kids seems like a good idea, except for the location. They are putting vulnerable people in a place that has always had lots of crime at both shopping centers (Lowe’s Home Improvement and the former Carolina Mall, along with the ABC Store across the street). The neighborhood behind this location has never been a safe place. There have been numerous deaths of young people trying to cross Highway 29 to the apartments on the other side, despite the crossover walkway. There will be constant noise from the highway and traffic past these homes to the shopping areas. The Walmart store is known for being an unsafe place to shop for people in the Northeast area.
I don’t think the concept is wrong. There are safer places to house elderly people and families with children that are closer to grocery shopping, roads that are less busy for kids to play near, and in neighborhoods that aren’t historically prone to crime.
that neighborhood caused carolina circle malls’ demise ? knuckles restaurant ? green’s supper club ?