New Approaches, Teamwork Aid Affordable Housing Efforts

Eli Poliakoff, CRC Board Chairman

Diane Hamilton, CRC Board Secretary

By Eli Poliakoff and Diane Hamilton | Originally published Feb 11, 2021 in The Post & Courier

Housing helps form communities, gives us a sense of place and provides physical and financial security. But too many in our community lack housing that is accessible, attainable and available. Recent events — from the pandemic to a renewed focus on the legacy and impact of historical and systemic racial inequities — have further highlighted the need for a new approach and tangible results in this area.

To help address this need, the city of Charleston, along with the Historic Charleston Foundation and the Charleston Housing Authority, formed the Charleston Redevelopment Corporation. The CRC is a nonprofit entity led by an all-volunteer board of directors. It includes representatives from numerous community organizations and institutions, including the city’s Housing and Community Development Department, the Maryville/Ashleyville Neighborhood Association, the Charleston Local Development Corporation, the Eastside Community Development Corporation and the Charleston Trident Urban League.

The corporation focuses on the development and maintenance of affordable housing in the Charleston area and helps secure local, state and national funding for long-term housing affordability. Its actions have led to significant benefits in our community. For example, it acquired the Sea Island Apartments, a 48-unit affordable rental complex on Johns Island for families of low-to-moderate income levels. Acquiring the complex ensures it will remain an affordable housing option for 160 residents, including numerous families, for more than 99 years. Without our involvement, the complex would have passed beyond affordability for many of its residents. Similar acquisitions are planned.

The Charleston Redevelopment Corporation also uses innovative approaches to enhance ownership opportunities, such as the land trust model. The Palmetto Community Land Trust is a nonprofit, community-based program of the corporation. It uses public-private partnerships to identify and develop housing, and to sell the homes at affordable rates.

In the land trust model, the trust retains ownership of the land while the homeowner obtains ownership of the house. Homeowners can invest, improve and sell their home, or pass it to future generations. This model enhances affordability and helps local, first-time homeowners obtain home ownership and grow equity that can be inherited. We will complete a Palmetto Community Land Trust single-family development in the Rosemont community this month, another home is underway in the Maryville/Ashleyville community, and more are planned.

The CRC also collaborates with other community organizations to increase the supply of affordable rental and for-sale housing. Working with the city of Charleston and the Charleston Local Development Corporation, we administer a revolving loan fund program targeted at maximizing long-term affordability for local initiatives.

Insufficient housing availability impacts quality of life and limits our collective growth as a community. Today’s housing opportunities also reflect our history. Like our nation, our city wrestles with legacies of historic and systemic racial discrimination. These inequities are reflected in housing: Home ownership rates by African Americans are well below those of whites across demographic and geographic lines. The Charleston Redevelopment Corporation and land trust model works to draw opportunity closer for all those in our community.

The Charleston Redevelopment Corporation and the Palmetto Community Land Trust alone cannot create sufficient affordable housing. Stakeholders throughout the community still need to get involved in ways large and small. It will take a collective and sustained effort. The corporation and the land trust’s efforts are examples of concrete steps taken by public and private partners to help address one of Charleston’s great challenges in new and collaborative ways.

Eli Poliakoff is chairman and Diane Hamilton is secretary of the Charleston Redevelopment Corporation.