Addressing Affordable Housing in Hendersonville

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by Katie Geith

In 2024, the City of Hendersonville, North Carolina, engaged the Development Finance Initiative (DFI) to assist with increasing the amount of affordable housing in their community. “Like most other cities, Hendersonville is faced with a housing crisis,” said City Attorney Angela Beeker. “In response, city council made housing a top priority. The City is in the process of adopting a strategic housing plan to address housing needs at all income levels. Based on our prior experience working with DFI, leadership felt very strongly that, rather than hire a consultant to write a plan for the City, those dollars could be better spent pursuing another brick-and-mortar housing initiative with the help of DFI.”

One of the first steps DFI took was talking to stakeholders in the community working in housing affordability and learning about the critical issues they see and what the needs of the community are. In addition, DFI conducted a housing needs assessment to analyze the housing market in the area. They examined census data to understand how many households live in unaffordable or substandard housing. In addition, they analyzed changes in market rent, examined what developments are coming in the community, and noted what gaps are left. This helped Hendersonville envision what their priorities are for building certain developments.

Like many communities across the region, Hendersonville’s housing challenges were exacerbated when Hurricane Helene hit in 2024. According to state estimates, an estimated 74,000 housing units were damaged by the storm across western North Carolina.

“All this data is meant to help them make decisions,” said DFI Assistant Director Frank Muraca. “We know resources are finite and there are tradeoffs between every decision, so knowing the priorities helps inform the next stage and set search criteria.”

After analyzing the market and establishing priorities, the next step is to look for and evaluate land for potential affordable housing development. DFI inventories all city-owned land, county-owned land, as well as private land listed for sale and evaluates the development potential of each site. “We use GIS files, tax parcel data, Google Maps, and we talk to folks to identify and assess potential sites,” said Muraca. “We look at things like topography, access to utilities, and other things private developers would study when assessing if development is possible on a property.” DFI then models the cost to build and operate affordable housing on each site and determines whether the project would be financially feasible for a private partner, and what, if any, additional funding would be required. All of this information will help the City prioritize sites for development and proceed to a more in-depth analysis on one or more sites to secure an experienced private partner who will bring the development to fruition.

“DFI staff has a level of expertise that would not otherwise be available to the City,” said Beeker. “DFI performed a very thorough needs assessment that is supported both qualitatively and quantitatively by research and stakeholder interviews and provided needed guidance as the City pursues a housing project to benefit our residents.”

Published May 19, 2025