GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA)- A new affordable housing option is opening in Greenville.
The Greenville Housing Fund will now own Century Plaza Apartments and they said this $31 million purchase is their largest financial transaction to date.
The critical need for affordable housing is only continuing to grow, which the Greenville Housing Fund said is why they pushed for their newest and largest acquisition.
“We are very much looking forward to the $5 million of planned renovations that will improve not only the exterior of the buildings in the community, but we will be doing interior upgrades to more than half the units all while we maintain the affordable price point,” said Bryan Brown, president, and CEO of Greenville Housing Fund.
Officially the new owner of Century Plaza Apartments, the housing fund said they are anxious to get to work on their 18-month construction process.
They said as the city advances, it’s even more important to continue to remember why these housing options are crucial.
“The loss of naturally occurring affordable housing sort of coincides with gentrification so as areas become gentrified, we see apartment communities purchased by investors and then those rents are taken up to the market and people who have historically lived there are displaced or can no longer live there,” said Brown.
They said it will offer over 200 units, with rents ranging from $798 to $1580 dollars. They said their hope is to have a range of tenants and incomes, but along with accepting vouchers, other factors will be offered to make the complex an affordable place to live.
“Some of the units will have income restrictions so if we have a unit that’s targeting at or below 50 percent income, that means you can’t earn more than that and there will be a certain number of those units but beyond that, it’s like any other typical apartment application in Greenville.”
The housing fund said they are looking forward to renovations while keeping the complex attainable.
“If you can look at something and tell it’s affordable then we’re not doing it right,” said Brown.
The Greenville Housing Fund said before, this complex was owned by investors outside of the country and now that the housing fund has ownership, they feel they will better fulfill the community needs from seeing them firsthand.
The Greenville Housing Fund said they do not have a date for when they will begin construction but will be launching their Century Plaza Apartments website in 1-2 weeks and will have updates soon.
