Charlotte Housing Authority history

During the 1970's there was much discussion over the traditional form of public housing.

The 1974 Housing and Community Act created the Section 8 Housing Assistance Program.

In 1975 federal policy shifted to the housing choice voucher program.

The first project would be known as the Eastover Community, and it became the CHA's first rural housing development since its jurisdiction had been broadened in February of 1976.

On August 4, 1980, the Cayce Housing Authority was created by the City of Cayce to deal with unsanitary and unsafe, inhabited dwelling accommodations in Cayce.

The dedication of the four new scattered housing developments took place on July 10, 1981.

On June 16, 1982, the Columbia Housing Authority created Columbia Housing Authority Developments, Inc. (CHAD) to expand its ability to pursue alternative means to finance housing developments.

In July of 1983, the CHA received approval from HUD to allocate 6 Mod Rehab certificates to the City of Columbia Innovative Grant Program (Home Conversion) Demonstration Program.

The federal tax credit program was created in 1986 and generally aims to house those whose income is at or below 60 percent of the area median income level.

But back in 1991, when the affluent mega-neighborhood was still a gleam in a developer’s eye, Mecklenburg County commissioners approved a document that suggested a new era of mixed-income housing in south Charlotte.

By 1993, Arthur Griffin, a school board member, was floating a new school integration proposal that an Observer editorial described as “a simple but appealing idea” – use policies and incentives, such as low-interest loans, to promote less expensive housing in south Charlotte.

The opening and dedication ceremony for the Vista community took place on October 15, 1995.

In December of 1998, the CHA embarked upon a new adventure - the creation of a homeownership community.

The homes were completed in August of 1999, and the first 25 families moved in.

That was just below the 2000 median value of Mecklenburg County’s owner-occupied homes – $139,000.

In 2001, as the Charlotte Area Transit System planned the Lynx Blue Line, its first light rail project, City Council approved a policy that, on first read, suggested a win for affordable housing.

An auction of the doors in October of 2002 raised more than $70,000.

Construction on the first units in the new neighborhood began in May of 2003.

Brian Collier, executive vice president at The Foundation for the Carolinas, has championed efforts to address economic inequality since joining the foundation in 2007.

Today, Ballantyne is the upscale address of 25,000 residents, a corporate office park, a country club and golf course, and The Ballantyne, the luxury hotel where President Obama stayed during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Thirty-eight percent of the households earning 30 percent to 50 percent of the HUD-area median family income were “severely cost-burdened” in 2013, meaning they paid more than 50 percent of income for shelter.

In 2014, a groundbreaking study of United States social mobility ranked Charlotte last, 50th among 50 of America’s largest cities.

In 2015, long after he’d left the board, CMS sold 32 acres of extra land around Ballantyne Elementary, at a profit, to a developer.

In 2016, the median household income in Ballantyne was about $100,000, compared with $59,000 for the county.