GREENVILLE, S.C. — The first affordable housing complex next to Greenville’s Unity Park is scheduled to break ground in a few short months.
The complex will be built on about an acre of land near Meadow and Nassau Street.
“It’s very important to us to get involved in the project that gave a diverse group of people the opportunity to be able to live in this neighborhood,” said James Jordon, President of Jordon Development Company & Jordon Construction Company.
Jordon is working with the Greenville Housing Fund to create the complex with more than 50 one-and-two-bedroom units spread across two buildings with a parking lot in between.
One of the buildings will be two stories tall, and the other three stories, with most units for people making 80 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI).
“They’re going to look like any other market-rate development around here, and they’re going to cost the same. The only difference is the price point to live here will be lower,” explained Greenville Housing Fund President and CEO Bryan Brown.
Construction is scheduled to start in October and could take 18 months to complete.
The still unnamed development hopes to attract teachers, first responders, and service industry workers.
“We want to make sure that this is a project that encourages walkability, that encourages healthy living and lifestyle,” said Jordon.
The development is one of several that city leaders and partners hope to build next to Unity Park over the next few years.
Greenville has donated an estimated $8 million worth of land to the Greenville Housing Fund to develop affordable, workforce and senior housing.
“The largest footprint of affordable housing in the entire city of Greenville. We hope to see it in the next couple of years, as many as 1000 people living on the edge of this beautiful park,” said Greenville Mayor Knox White.
“All of this is an effort to honor the legacy of the folks who’ve lived here historically, to create more housing opportunities,” said Brown.
The plans for the development will go in front of the Planning Commission next month, one of the last milestones left before construction can start, Jordon says.