One of Buncombe County’s flagship affordable housing projects, planned for county-owned property in the heart of downtown Asheville, now faces an estimated $15 million funding gap.
The shortfall for the 50 Coxe Ave. development, presented at Buncombe’s Sept. 15 Board of Commissioners meeting, resulted from state-level decisions over federal disaster recovery funds. Commissioners bashed those choices as failures to recognize or respect Tropical Storm Helene’s uniquely damaging impacts on the county.
Buncombe had sought $15 million for 50 Coxe from a federal recovery grant being administered by the N.C. Department of Commerce, explained Matthew Cable, the county’s community development division manager. The county and its development partner, Raleigh-based
Harmony Housing Affordable Development, had called the 203-unit, 100% affordable project highly competitive due to its downtown location and easy transit access.
But due to the way the commerce department’s rules interacted with a different state program for affordable housing — which had rewritten its own grant guidelines in the wake of Helene — Cable said the 50 Coxe project had essentially been “boxed out” of funding. He also noted that the state hadn’t applied those rules consistently: Haywood County received a grant for over $10.5 million, despite officials previously capping requests for that type of project at $3 million.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more mad as a county commissioner,” remarked board member Parker Sloan. He pointed out that, according to data compiled by the county, Buncombe had received the smallest grant award of any county in the state, despite losing by far the most housing units due to Helene.
“The days of being polite about this are over,” Sloan said. “The state of North Carolina — the governor’s office and the agencies that roll up under him — screwed this up royally.”
Amanda Edwards, the Buncombe board’s chair, vented her ire at the state as well. She called for officials to explain their decisions, especially why Haywood had received special funding treatment.
“This can’t be glossed over,” she said. “It is not acceptable that our recovery is being delayed, pushed further back, for reasons we don’t know and that we don’t understand.”
Cable said Buncombe was working with Harmony Housing to find “alternative sources” of funding to plug the $15 million gap for 50 Coxe. He also suggested that its scope could be reduced to bring down projected costs.
Buncombe has already committed substantial resources to the project. The county agreed to lease the property to Harmony Housing for a “nominal rate” and allocate $9.8 million from its own funds. As of early 2025, the project’s estimated cost was $74.5 million.
The county also did not receive a more than $22 million federal tax credit that it had expected for 50 Coxe. Cable said that award will likely come in a future funding cycle.
But even assuming the county finds all of the necessary funding, the tax credit delay would push the project’s timeline back by up to nine months. Buncombe had previously expected construction to start in early 2027 and finish by 2029.
Daniel Walton is the City Government Watchdog Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at dwalton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe board slams state over funding snub for affordable housing
