Senator Michael Lee signs check for Castle Hayne affordable senior housing

CASTLE HAYNE, NC (WWAY)– Last year, the North Carolina General Assembly made a 190-million-dollar appropriation to the state’s Workforce Housing Loan Program. 

Tuesday, one New Hanover County development was awarded some of those funds. 

“This is one of those things where it isn’t just incredibly important for our area, it’s incredibly important for our state, because we are going to continue to grow because we have such a wonderful state and a wonderful area to live in,” said Senator Michael Lee.  

On Tuesday, Senator Michael Lee, alongside other project partners, signed a check for more than 2 million dollars to the Covenant Apartments in Castle Hayne. Which will provide affordable housing to seniors 55 and above living on a fixed income. 

“For the last about six years, we’ve been working on developing this development, called Covenant Senior Housing. 68 units of affordable housing for low to moderate income people living in New Hanover County that is age restricted,” said Keith Walker, East Carolina Community Development Executive Director.  

The Covenant was awarded funding by the NC Housing Finance Agency in 2020. But after pandemic-related construction cost increases and delays stalled the project, this money is allowing work to resume.   

“In this pipeline of projects across our state, there were gaps that occurred because of the hue increases in cost that resulted from the pandemic. So, the state really stepped in with funding a program that enabled a lot of these projects to come out of the ground and provide, in this particular case, needed housing for seniors,” said Lee.    

The Covenant Apartments are one of 77 developments statewide helped by these funds.  

“The most critical need in our county, and even in our state, is affordable housing for people over 55 years of age,” said Walker.    

“This is a great example of what can be done when you have a public-private partnership. You have the commitment from the county, you have a private investment, you have the state funding, as well as the federal tax credits that make this all happen,” said Scott Farmer, NC Housing Finance Agency Executive Director.  

Construction on the complex has begun, and is expected to finish up by the end of next year with residents moving in by early 2025.