Wilmington is at a crossroads with affordable housing.
The Mayor’s Office drew up plans to incentivize developers to build affordable housing, while some Councilmembers want to see that money go toward more community-centric efforts.
Mayor John Carney’s Chief of Staff Daniel Walker outlined the administration's proposal at a meeting Tuesday.
Carney’s plan would see $16 million go toward construction projects to bring affordable units to residents for the first 10 years of operation.
“Theoretically, the rent could rise to normal levels,” Walker said. “With cash financing, the 5-10 year period is [the] norm. You start to get beyond that when you talk about federal programs that [are] put in place like the Low Income Tax Credit, for example.”
Walker argued this one-time investment would bring at least a decade of opportunities to residents.
But some Councilmembers said that money should go toward short- and long-term efforts like adding to the Affordable Housing Trust to help fund affordable rentals, increase affordable home ownership and build more shelter beds.
If put in place, Carney’s plan envisions about 230 units coming online, but development might take years to come together, if at all.
Once those units are up for rent, developers who received funding from the city would have to keep rent at affordable rates for 10 years. The maximum monthly cost would be $1,910 for folks at 80% area median income and $1,434 for those at 60% AMI.
But Councilmember Christian Willauer questioned if those rents are truly affordable.
“The rent would just be $1,900 for a one bedroom,” Willauer said. “That's not affordable for most residents… I asked a bunch of questions about, how’s this thing going to work, and I didn't really get a lot of answers. And so we could put that into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. What is this money going to fund?”
Willauer said the city should pilot a mix of approaches and see what works best rather than funneling money to developers.
