Community and Economic Development in North Carolina and Beyond

Maintenance of vacant or neglected commercial buildings: options for NC local governments

The downtown buildings in the Town of Old Well have “good bones.” The structures lining the four downtown blocks of Main Street are solid brick and reflect their historic character, […]
Legal and Business Reasons Why Downtown Development Programs Should Involve Secured Loans—Not Grants

Dr. Blaine Beeper is a retired hospital administrator who was recently elected to council in the Town of Bushwood. Dr. Beeper thinks he has figured out how to jumpstart revitalization […]
The Tortoise, the Hare, and Demolition in Historic Districts

A few blocks from downtown in the town’s historic district sit two houses built in the early twentieth century: the Hare House and the Tortoise House. The houses retain their […]
Conveyance of Local Government Property for Affordable Housing

A developer of affordable housing for low and moderate income persons has approached the City and County about an affordable housing project near the City’s downtown. The developer’s plan is […]

The Community and Economic Development program at the School of Government provides public officials with training, research, and assistance that support local efforts to create jobs and wealth, expand the tax base, and maintain vibrant communities. We deploy the resources of the University to support the development goals of communities in North Carolina.

Freddie Mac Pilots a Single-Family Rental Program

In January 2018, Government sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac completed its first financing deal as a part of its new single-family rental pilot program, which launched in December 2017. The goal of the pilot program is to provide millions of dollars of financing for landlords and nonprofits to offer affordable single-family rental units. This deal finances nearly $11.1 million for TrueLane Homes, an investor in affordable single-family rental homes, in the form of a 10-year, fixed-rate loan secured by 196 homes across six states. Over 90% of the homes will be affordable for families earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

This landmark deal comes on the heels of Fannie Mae’s similar, yet controversial, agreement to provide $1 billion in financing to Invitation Homes, a subsidiary of the private equity firm, Blackstone Group, which was announced in January 2017. However, both of these deals mark a significant transition in the GSEs’ role in affordable rental markets, which have traditionally been limited to financing multifamily projects or small-scale single-family rental properties. Read More…

The Virginia Creeper Trail: Partnerships Creating Public Value

This past weekend my wife and I took a short trip out to the mountains for our anniversary. Among our activities was peddling all 34 miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail, a beautiful gem stretching from White Top, through Damascus, to Abingdon, Virginia. In 2014, the Trail was inducted to the Rail-to-Trail Hall of Fame. This Virginia Creeper Trail has it all: beautiful views, a well-maintained trail, lots of history, amenities along the way, and stops in two delightful small towns. It is a huge economic asset to the region. More than a quarter million visitors ride the trail annually, giving steady business to bike outfitters, restaurants, hotels, and so on. The Trail is also a great example of how partnerships—intergovernmental and public-private—make assets like this possible.

Part II: The Start Up and Co-Working Scene in North Carolina

Part I of this three-part series covered the co-working concept and what additional resources business incubators can offer. Now in part II, the CED blog will take a deep dive into three of North Carolina’s business incubators, specifically HQ Raleigh, Launch Chapel Hill, and American Underground in Durham.

HQ Raleigh

In 2012, HUB Raleigh opened on Hillsborough Street in a 4,700 SF space, and the response was overwhelming. They rebranded to HQ Raleigh and moved to the warehouse district in 2014. They now occupy over 48,000 SF in Raleigh including their new space, which occupies the top five stories of the Capital Club. When walking into HQ Raleigh, the quickly-expanding business incubator in downtown Raleigh, it is anything but your typical office environment. With its long counter, expresso machines, refrigerators, and beer taps, it looks like a cafe or bar at first glance. There is a large open seating area with games such as ping pong in the back. Beside the stairs is an enormous sculpture by Jonathan Brilliant, comprised of of over 30,000 wooden coffee stir sticks woven in place and held together only by tension. Read More…

Hidden in Plain Sight: Some Next Steps

The scale and complexity of the issues surrounding North Carolina’s manufactured homes stock was the subject of a previous blog post, Hidden in Plain Sight. Over 1.3 million people in the state live in 480,000 manufactured homes, making them a vital part of the affordable housing stock especially in rural counties. However, challenges associated with high utility bills, vulnerability to flooding and high winds, and deteriorating condition of older homes suggest an urgent need for action. That said, responsibility and capacity for action is spread across multiple agencies and individuals with little incentive for any concerted or coordinated effort. The School of Government interviewed 40 stakeholders with connections with manufactured home building, installation, maintenance, financing, regulation, removal, resident representation, and housing policy. It was apparent that bringing these stakeholders together might be a productive way forward. So, in April 2018, the School convened a workshop which attracted 32 participants from 25 organizations – ranging from the North Carolina Manufactured & Modular Homebuilders Association to the North Carolina Justice Center, from the Roanoke Electric Cooperative to Habitat for Humanity NC, and from the NC Department of Insurance to the Choanoke Area Development Association – to consider possible strategies and action steps to meet the mobile homes challenge.

Aligning Transit Agencies and Private Developers through Joint Development

As development activity continues to boom nationally and throughout North Carolina, developers continue to find creative ways to create value. One such example would be through working alongside transit agencies to drive private development projects and transit enhancements. The Federal Transit Administration’s guidelines for joint development provide a framework for transit authorities and developers to use in thinking through transit-oriented developments.

The Federal Transit Administration’s Guidelines for Joint Development

According to the Federal Transit Administration, a joint development is the simultaneous improvement of a transit system and the surrounding real estate, coordinated between real estate developers and transit agencies. Throughout North Carolina, transit projects – such as the Lynx Light Rail in Charlotte – have resulted in significant private development proximate to stops. However, few, if any, projects in North Carolina have been able to take advantage of the FTA’s financial assistance for joint developments. Read More…

Hometown Strong: A Rural Initiative

In the state of North Carolina (NC), 80 out of 100 counties are rural. In fact, among the 10 most populous states, NC has the largest proportion of individuals living in rural areas, ranking second only to Texas. Despite the sizeable rural population, factors that drive density and growth in communities are not completely present in the rural areas of the state. This fact is further compounded by a study recently conducted by the The Carolina Population Center showcasing that 41 percent of North Carolina towns have shown a decline in population with another 192 municipalities displaying stagnant growth. This growth is at a rate that is slower than the state’s average of 6.4 percent. The data from the study also showed that the northeast corner of the state has been the hardest hit by slow growth and this is where a large concentration of rural communities lie.

In light of these statistics, a new initiative by Governor Roy Cooper is positioned to provide assistance to the rural areas of the state. Hometown Strong was launched in February 2018 and described as an initiative that will restructure the state government’s approach to addressing the needs of NC’s rural communities. The purpose of Hometown Strong is to create a partnership between state agencies and local leaders for rural communities. Through the leveraging of state and local resources, the initiative’s goals are to identify ongoing projects and community needs, implement plans to boost the economy, improve infrastructure, and strengthen NC towns. Read More…

Combining Multiple Property Tax Exclusions for Re-Development Projects

In a North Carolina town, a long-vacant historic mill with environmental contamination has sat empty on the edge of downtown for years. The Town has taken action to see the property transformed. Town staff worked through a brownfields process to clear the major environmental problems associated with the property, and the Town engaged the UNC Development Finance Initiative (DFI) to evaluate the financial feasibility of private development on the site and to attract a developer. Now a developer has proposed an adaptive reuse of the historic building that aligns with the Town’s interests. The developer hopes to take advantage of property tax exemptions to make the project work financially and asks whether the property can benefit from both the brownfields exclusion in G.S. 105-277.13 and the historic property exclusion in G.S. 105-278. When this question came to me, I initially thought it would be fairly simple to answer. After much research and discussion, I’ve discovered that this question is anything but simple. Nor is my answer.

I think it is possible for the same owner and property to benefit from more than one property tax exclusion simultaneously. But it depends on the exclusions involved. Some exclusions permit simultaneous eligibility, others do not. Different exclusions may apply to different portions of a property. What’s more, even if a property may be eligible for multiple exclusions simultaneously the Machinery Act does not provide guidance on the appropriate calculation method.

In other words, it’s complicated. Read on for the details. Read More…

Part I: The Start Up and Co-Working Scene in North Carolina

https://www.wework.com/buildings/stonewall-station--charlotte — WeWork Stonewall Station in Charlotte

Hearing talk of “angel investors” looking for “unicorn companies” by grown adults sitting in a circle cross-legged on a polished concrete floor might not seem like business as usual, but this new way of doing business is quickly gaining traction. The startup community in North Carolina appears to be stronger than it has ever been, with entrepreneurs in NC collectively raising more than $1.1 billion in 2017, 36.5% more than the previous year. Business incubators are appearing in the dense urban areas, far-reaching rural areas, and everywhere in between. The first part of this three-part series will focus on a trend that business incubators and the startup community have adopted. In the second section, there will be a deep dive of three of the Triangle’s business incubator’s, specificallyHQ Raleigh, American Undergroundin Durham, andLaunch Chapel Hill. For the final part, the state-wide economic impact of these startups and recent trends will be explored. Read More…

Preparing for a Presentation

This is part of a series of posts on the topic of leadership as applied to community and economic development, authored by UNC School of Government faculty member Willow Jacobson.

We find ourselves in many situations in which we need to make a convincing argument — sometimes as part of a public presentation to a large group and other times to just a few people. For example, you might find yourself talking to a group about the possibility of using a Community Development Block Grant for revitalization efforts or the potential benefits of building a minor league baseball stadium. I was recently talking with a professor of Communications at UNC-CH and he shared that when preparing for any of these situations that one needs to keep in mind that they will need to make some key strategic choices. They need to think through: “who you are and what you represent”. First, one must recognize that people will first start to listen based on assumptions and expectations about the speaker. As the speaker you need to think through these and recognize if you need to address any of these issues upfront. Next, it is critical to “define why the audience should listen to you by invoking an emotional tie” and finally, consider “how you make a point”. Read More…

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