Student Corner: Strategies for Creating Mixed-Income Neighborhoods

<p>Durham County hired the Development Finance Initiative (DFI) in 2017 to help redevelop two county-owned parcels in downtown. Though currently serving as surface parking for county employees, the two sites are located adjacent to recent high-end residential development, government and institutional services, and subsidized public housing. County and community leaders recognized the strong potential of these sites to transform the area’s character and hired DFI to help develop a plan for a mixed-income residential development. After 18 months of intensive analysis and community engagement, the County—with the help of DFI—selected a development partner in early July 2019.</p> <p>Throughout the process, the topic of mixed-income development was reoccurring. What exactly does mixed-income mean? And how can it be administered and achieved? For Durham, given current state-level regulations, mixed-income ultimately came to mean a diversity of income across the broader neighborhood context. While incomes will be mixed within the larger development site, the buildings themselves will house either market-rate or income-restricted affordable housing.</p> <p>Importantly, using newly implemented income-averaging set asides (CED post forthcoming), the affordable side of the development will serve incomes between 20% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). This extension of the income spectrum not only deepens the project’s affordability, it introduces a wider range of incomes to the site. When completed, the two developments will together serve households earning between 20% and 140% AMI.</p> <p>Given current regulations, DFI and Durham County’s plan has achieved the most diversity of incomes possible. Nevertheless, questions around mixed-income and income-diversity remain. The purpose of this post is to first [...]</p>