Durham, NC one of 30 cities chosen for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ new housing supply initiative

The City of Durham is one of 30 cities recently selected to participate in a new Bloomberg Philanthropies housing initiative to bring funding and expertise to cities to help increase housing supply and expand options.

Participating cities will receive $450,000 to $750,000 to pilot technology that quickly clears construction approvals, engage architects to draft permit-ready plans, or hire staff to push stalled projects along. 

Mayor Leo Williams said the amount Durham will receive from Bloomberg hasn’t been determined. 

The city will use its award to expand its Accessory Dwelling Units Pilot program, Williams said. It could be used to hire another staffer to focus solely on the ADU pilot program, he said.

The Bloomberg award “may not be enough money to really have an impact on building units, so we may be able to hire some manpower to help carry this out and execute those ADUs faster,” Williams said.

ADUs are self-contained housing units that are commonly referred to as granny flats, in-law suites or backyard cottages. The Durham program provides low-interest loans to eligible homeowners to build ADUs that will remain affordable for 30 years. The city has already invested $1.75 million in the pilot program.

Sarah Viñas, the city’s Housing & Neighborhood Services director, said meeting Durham’s housing needs will require bold ideas and more choices.

“We’re really excited to be one of the first cities elected to participate in the Bloomberg Housing Initiative,” Viñas said. “We’re going to focus on expanding housing options across the city and testing out expansion of accessory dwelling units and other creative housing types to address our affordability challenges.” 

Like other cities across the country, Durham is struggling with a housing affordability crisis, Viñas said.

“Our challenge has definitely increased over the last several years and through the pandemic as housing costs have increased significantly,” Viñas said. “The cost to build has increased and the cost of housing overall has increased, and that’s on the homeownership side and the rental housing side.” 

She said more housing is needed, especially housing that’s affordable for low-wage residents.

“We also know that there are a lot of displacement pressures that are impacting existing residents,” Viñas said, “so another key piece of our challenge is to preserve the housing that we do have, and to support longtime residents so they’ll be able to stay in the city that they’ve called home.”

Low-income renters in North Carolina far outnumber affordable housing units   

Cities chosen for the initiative will model programs in Atlanta, Austin, Texas and San Diego. Atlanta created a position to kickstart stalled projects. Austin increased options for accessory dwelling units to lower rents, and San Diego fast-tracked building application reviews to increase home construction.

Bloomberg Philanthropies noted in a press release that years of under-building has left America with housing shortages in every region of the country and at every income level. Roughy 8.1 million families now share a home with people outside their household because they cannot find another within their means, it said. 

A study commissioned by the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce found the state faces a total housing supply gap of 764,478 units through 2029. That includes 442,118 homes for sale and 322,360 rental units.

Bloomberg Philanthropies only announced the first 15 participants last week. Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alexandria, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Cleveland, Ohio, Columbia, South Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, Miami, Florida, Nashville, Tennessee, Omaha, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Providence, Rhode Island, and San Jose, California were chosen along with Durham to participate in the initiative.