A planned subdivision near the Aycock Recreation Complex has won a $216,000 Community Development Block Grant award from the state Division of Community Assistance.
Carey Chapel Crossings is a development from Dennis Tharrington and Jack Blackburn. The project, outside Henderson in the Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction, is designed to be affordable for moderate-income residents of Vance County.
The houses will be 1,150 to 1,400 square feet and will sell in the range of $105,000 to $138,000, Tharrington said this morning.
“The neighborhood we plan to build will be a good neighborhood,” he said. It will be “a model for the area and for the entire state.”
The North Carolina Small Cities CDBG funding is meant to pay for sidewalks and streets with curbs and gutters, to run lines to the city sewer and water systems, and to connect the first 12 single-family houses in the subdivision. The first phase will cover about 6 of the subdivision’s 75 acres. Ultimately, Tharrington said, Carey Chapel Crossings will have about 140 houses.
“Our community development program is designed to enable communities to build stronger neighborhoods and better opportunities for our citizens,” Gov. Mike Easley said in a news release announcing the grant Wednesday. “These funds help us improve the economic well-being and quality of life for the people of our state.”
Henderson applied for a $240,000 grant on behalf of the developers in the fall after the City Council held two public hearings on the matter.
The grant will contribute to the house’s affordability.
Tharrington said the project didn’t depend on the CDBG money, but “it certainly makes it a lot better. It’s a lot easier to do it. We are very, very grateful for it.”
The developers are working with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to provide mortgage and down payment assistance to qualified home buyers. Tharrington said buyers will be able to get fixed-rate loans that stretch as long as 33 years to make the payments affordable.
Tharrington couldn’t say when the developers will break ground on the subdivision or when the first homes will be ready. He said the next step is to conduct the full engineering for the project, then to submit the plans to the state for approval.
The subdivision will have entrances on Carey Chapel Road and Vicksboro Road, and Tharrington said the Vicksboro entrance, labeled “Vicksboro Crossing,” likely will be first.
“Everyone’s hard work has paid off and, as you will recall, this housing development will assist in the financing needs for the initial phase of a project designed to ‘target’ the mid-market in this area for available homes, which is woefully underserved,” City Manager Eric Williams wrote in an e-mail message to City Council members and others Wednesday.
The city Planning Department will keep roughly 10 percent of the grant as an administrative fee. Planning Director Grace Smith mentioned the likelihood of a fee of $17,000 to $25,000 during her budget presentation to City Council members April 5. Such administrative fees pay the salary of the city’s CDBG expert, Gwen Wright.
The federal government supplies the CDBG money to the state, which distributes it through the Division of Community Assistance.