Lease holders of Brookhill Village looks to County Commissioners for funding

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A vote to help preserve affordable housing in the Brookhill Village community is going before the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Thursday night.

The historic community has provided affordable housing since it was built in 1949 and the current lease holders are looking to keep that promise, with help from the county.

Since the Griffin Borthers and Quore Advisors took over the ground lease in 2022, the 35-acre property has seen a lot of changes. The group has demolished abandoned units and repaired the remaining units on the property. Brookhill Investments, LLC is hoping to continue that trend with the help of local governments.

Lachelle Cherry, who lives in Brookhill Village said, “they’ve upgraded the inside of the apartments greatly.”

Of the 100 units, people live in 78 units on 9-acres of the 35-acre property.

People living in the community tell WBTV repairs have been made to the roofs, interior of the homes, added air conditioning units, and improving the landscaping.

“I know that it takes a lot to do something like this, so the changes that I have seen in the last 3-years have been great,” said Cherry.

Brookhill Investments is requesting $3.5 million from Mecklenburg County to continue renovations and preserve the 100 affordable housing units remaining. The money will cover real estate taxes, the cost of demolition for the abandoned apartments, and support annual rental subsidies.

Antoine Q. Dennard, a partner at Quore Advisors said, “these units are from 1950, they started the project I want to say in 1949 so things need a little bit of TLC and we think the resident also deserve to be in better and clean products. So more importantly, this would go towards the renovations of those units to keep these families here for the next 26 years.”

Proposed renovations for the existing 100 units include:

-News heating and cooling units.

-Roof repairs and replacement.

-Floor refinishing or replacement.

-Storm doors and windows.

-New kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures.

-Interior and exterior painting as needed.

-Insulation improvements and other repairs.

If funding is approved, the Harvest Center will manage the units and provide wrap around services – along with relocating the campus to Brookhill Village.

Of the 100 units, 22 units will be available to the Harvest Center for those relocating from the old campus. A program that provides transitional housing for people in the area.

The remaining 78 units will be split in half between the Harvest Center and (city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County) the Housing Collaborative.

Money from the local government will not be enough to help sustain affordable housing in Brookhill Village. “We feel with the partnership with Charlotte-Meck, the Griffin Brothers family office, their contribution, the Harvest Center of Charlotte, and then we’re also hoping some of our other community leaders, corporate leaders will step up so we can sustain this to 2049,” said Dennard.

People living here tell me they finally feel optimistic -- they’re just hopeful nothing falls through and it remains affordable.

Cherry said, “even if they raise it by just a few dollars, I understand it they have to deal with inflation and stuff like that, but don’t kick these people out, there are generations here, this community is generational.”

The legacy residents of Brookhill Village will continue to rent if their status remains in good standings.

As units become available, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will be using the Housing Collaborative to place people and families in them.

The average rent at Brookhill is about $466 per month with the average household income around $23,000.

Along with a vote from the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners, Charlotte City Council will vote on $3.5 million in funding on Monday.

In total, Brookhill Investments wants $7-million to preserve and renovate affordable housing in Brookhill Village.

If funding fails, the group has an early termination option that ends on July 31, 2023. That’s an option but they’re hopeful funding will be approved by the city and county.

Plans are not finalized for the remaining 35 acres, but the goal is to have some market-rate, mixed-use development with plans released within the year.

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