Affordable housing project in Raleigh receives full funding: 'Part of the American Dream'

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- An affordable housing project in southeast Raleigh is fully funded, and one step closer to changing the lives of 18 families.

The Cottages of Idlewild is a community land trust model, which means the families who own the homes will not own the land they're built on. It allows them to pay less in property taxes, as they'll only owe them on their homes, not on the lots.

As the county continues to grow, this gives families a chance to stay in neighborhoods with rising home prices.

"We're allowing people, you know, an opportunity to still be able to stay in the places that they love and call home and are familiar with, and so for me, that's super touching," Chair Shenica Thomas of the Wake County Board of Commissioners told ABC11. "We are helping create community, helping establish community, maintain community in an area that's been gentrified in an area that people have been feeling like they've been pushed out of."

It will be Raleigh's first cottage court development, which is a cluster of small housing structures built around a central court that's visible from the street.

The project has received funding from private groups, the City of Raleigh, and Wake County. It's backed by Raleigh Raised Development, which is founded by Levelle Moton, CJ Mann, and Terrell Midgett - who all grew up in southeast Raleigh.

Moton, the North Carolina Central head basketball coach, has a special connection to this project in particular, his grandmother lived in a home on the now-vacant lot where the cottages will eventually be built.

ABC11 spoke with Moton in February about the significance of this project.

"For this project to be her exact home, I just think is God's way of sending me back as a messenger and a vessel to help enhance the quality of life for everyone in that community, in the spirit of what she would have done," Moton said.

The homeowners will build equity as they continue to live in the cottages, it will allow them to eventually sell the home and get enough back to enter the free market or give them the opportunity to pass an asset down to members of their family.

"Seeing these parents have an opportunity to have home ownership, I know the morale of that community is going to be lifted," Moton said. "Because they can feel like somebody. They can feel like they achieved part of the American dream, and that's what it was always about."

The project also comes with a "repair fund" for the families who live there, which Thomas said helps combat a common obstacle for homeowners who participate in affordable housing programs. It allows them to get financial support to fix anything that may go wrong in the homes down the line.

The project is expected to break ground in the fall of 2024.