Charlotte City Council Business Meeting – April 14, 2025: Housing Trust Fund Recommendations and Proclamations
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Charlotte City Council Business Meeting – April 14, 2025
The Charlotte City Council met on April 14, 2025, at 5:00 PM in Room 267 of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. The meeting opened with recognitions, including proclamations for Autism Awareness Month (April 2025) and Arbor Day (April 25, 2025), as well as honors for the City Clerk’s Office winning the 2025 Program Excellence and Governance Award and the Quill Award. The council then proceeded through the consent agenda, a major Housing Trust Fund action review, and two public hearings, and ended with a closed session.
Consent Calendar
- Approved consent agenda items 11 through 28 in a single motion, which included:
- Pavement Marking Installation and Removal contract ($517,375 to Striping Concepts, LLC)
- Elevator equipment, maintenance, and repair services cooperative contracts
- Office supplies cooperative contract (American Office Products Distributors, Inc.)
- Rental equipment cooperative contract (United Rentals)
- Construction engineering and inspection for federal contracts (five firms)
- Cross Charlotte Trail Matheson to 36th Street Segment Infrastructure Reimbursement Agreement (up to $12,500,000)
- Maintenance and repair of city-owned vehicle and equipment wash services (Cross Systems Inc.)
- Monroe Road Multi-Use Path contract ($1,596,858.07 to HUX Contracting, LLC)
- Paving and Patching Contract Change Order #2 ($1,000,000 to OnSite Development, LLC)
- Storm Drainage Improvement Project – 619 Cedar Street ($935,694.47 to Cinderella Partners Inc.)
- Meeting minutes from multiple dates
- Resolutions setting public hearings for three voluntary annexations (Brightside Commons, Project Lemmond, Steele Creek Park) for May 12, 2025
- In Rem Remedy for 7214 Lawyers Road
- Charlotte Water property transactions (Belmont Lift Station, Oakdale Road Buffer)
- Condemnation for 9836 Old Dowd Road
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak during the public hearings. The council conducted two public hearings (Housing and Community Development Consolidated Plan and Section 108 Loan Guarantee) with a motion and second to close the hearings without any oral testimony.
Discussion Items
Housing Trust Fund Recommendations (Action Review)
- Rebecca Hefner (Housing and Neighborhood Services) presented an overview of the $100 million housing bond’s first funding cycle. Staff received 25 proposals requesting over $75 million, with the largest ask in HTF history ($13.5 million for Brooklyn Village).
- Staff recommended 13 Housing Trust Fund (HTF) proposals plus two city-owned land conveyances:
- Rental Production (6 of 13): Baker Crossing (58 units, TOD), Barton South (140 units, 99-year affordability), Haven Ridge at Sharon Amity (120 senior units, partnership with Opportunity South Carolina, Matter Health, Mission 1513), Union at Graham (198 units, $22,000/unit investment), Woodward Apartments (130 units, near Camp North End, partner with Ounce of Care), Long Creek Commons (48 senior units, using HOME funds).
- Home Ownership (4 of 13): Newell Presbyterian/Dreamkey Partners (54 townhomes, $267k-$276k, 30-year affordability), Habitat for Humanity developments: Caria Pond Townhomes (32 affordable + 41 market-rate), Fru Road Townhomes (8 units), Tom Hunter Townhomes (10 units, mix of attached/detached).
- Rental Preservation (2 proposals – both strong but exceed category allocation): Hideaway at King’s Park (110 units, 40-year affordability, new partner Sandy Road Ventures) and Woodford Estates (228 units, partnership with Ascent Housing and Roof Above as equity partner).
- TOD Site Acquisition: West End Apartments (carless development, 0.5-acre site, request $1.5M from fee-in-lieu balance, no on-site parking with bike share and EV car share).
- City-Owned Land: Tyner Street (12 rental townhomes + 2 transitional, 99-year ground lease, partner Camino CDC and True Homes) and Freedom Drive Assemblage (12 for-sale townhomes, 20-year affordability, partner True Homes and Prosperity Alliance).
- Deferred Proposals: Staff recommended deferring Brooklyn Village multifamily (request $13.5M) and five other developments to the next HTF cycle; staff will convene partners (city, county, Inlivian) to explore alternative funding structures and report back in June.
- Council members expressed broad support for the package, with specific discussions on:
- Home ownership affordability periods: Councilmember Ajmera questioned 15-year vs. 30-year terms; staff clarified that Habitat’s model includes shared appreciation and 45-year effective restrictions.
- Community engagement for Haven Ridge: Councilmember Molina noted the developer had not contacted the adjacent Coventry Woods neighborhood; staff confirmed community engagement is required and will follow up.
- Parking concerns: Councilmembers Graham and Brown cautioned that carless developments often lead to street parking complaints; staff noted the West End TOD design includes alternative mobility strategies.
- Brooklyn Village: Councilmembers urged caution given the decade-long history and $13.5M request; staff recommended further collaboration with partners.
- Innovation and speed: Councilmember Graham asked about expediting permitting for affordable housing; staff acknowledged ongoing efforts to streamline approvals.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously.
- Public hearings closed without testimony; the Housing and Community Development Consolidated Plan (FY2026-2030) and Section 108 Loan Guarantee application ($25 million) will proceed to a future vote.
- Housing Trust Fund recommendations will be voted on at the April 28, 2025 City Council Business Meeting. Staff’s recommended package (subject to council modifications) totals over $35 million, creating 1,100+ affordable units, leaving an approximate $59 million balance in the $100 million bond.
- City-owned land conveyances for Tyner Street and Freedom Drive will also be voted on April 28.
- Closed session was held to consult with the city attorney on a claim and to review recordings released under state statute.
- Next Steps: The second HTF RFP cycle opens in May with recommendations expected in September 2025; the Brooklyn Village proposal will be re-evaluated with partners and brought back in June.
Meeting Transcript
Ready to go live? I got two. Hey, because you know where to be better eating. I say bugger you. Hey Doc. Okay. Good evening. Good evening. I'd like to call the Charlotte City Council meeting into order and welcome everyone to the April 14th, 2025 Charlotte City Council business meeting for this evening. For this evening, we will be hosting the full meeting in this room and space. And there's signs out there. If you've told someone to go downstairs, you know, text them and say, come on upstairs to two sixty-seven. Everybody knows what that word means for us. So thank you very much. And I would like to ask if we could start with our city clerk. Stephanie Kelly, City Clerk. Anthony Fox Interim City Attorney. Marcus Jones, City Manager. Now Graham District Two. Okay. No, you have to stay here. No, I'm just joking. Go ahead. Um, I wanted to um recognize Mr. Bakari. I would like to acknowledge the receipt of your resignation from this council effective April twentieth, twenty twenty-five. Thank you for your dedication and service for the past seven and a half years, not only to your district, but to all of our city. You haven't yielded the floor many times to seven years. Well, every time you did, it was magical. Um I was a lot longer-winded when I started this seven and a half years ago. Something is beaten it out of me, but we've been through a lot of very rough times, and we've been through a lot of really great victories and times together. So I'll just say um it has been the honor of a lifetime. I will continue to do everything I can to support Charlotte and the city we all love and support you all and everything that um that you're working on. And again, you know, we leave the rules of procedure behind, everyone focusing on these. And um, and and you know, it's just yeah, it's bittersweet. It's it's been a long time. We've done a lot, it's been rocky at times, but this has just been a uh quite the experience of a lifetime, and I would just say the only thing I ask is that every year you select the right person to read the MechDeck proclamation. We will do it in the traditional Charlatan voice that I I have tried to do every year for seven and a half years, and uh, and I'm sure we won't have seen the last of each other. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. So now we'll go into our invocation. Maybe we can pray for clock talk as well. Ms. Watlington, we are recognized. Thank you, madam. Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for today, Mort. Thank you, God that even as we experience weather changes, we recognize a change in seasons, Lord. And so as we continue to do the work of this city, I pray for our wisdom, I pray for our unity. Um, I pray that we keep a heart with the people to understand uh the community and their needs. Um Lord, as Tarek goes, I I just plead the blood of Jesus over him, God, and I ask that he continues to move forward, Lord, with the spirit of love, with the spirit of wisdom, Lord, and integrity, God, that he continues to represent this community in addition to all of his other responsibilities, Lord.
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