CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An affordable housing community by DreamKey Partners is likely coming to southeast Charlotte.
The developer is hoping to rezone and secure an empty plot of land at Weddington Road and Simfield Church Road. Its plans include a single apartment building with 96 multi-family units.
“It’s going to be a mixed-income community,” DreamKey president Julie Porter told the Charlotte City Council.
The renderings for the seven acres also include a playground, sidewalk, and tree buffer.
The building is set to be three stories tall, but some neighbors don’t want it to be higher than two stories.
"We would prefer that to be two-story across the board, we understand that’d increase the base of it but we’d like to discuss that further,” resident Cliff Jensen said during Monday's rezoning hearing.
Some neighbors told WCNC Charlotte off-camera that they’re hoping two stories would mean a smaller building with fewer residents. However, Dreamkey said the building must stay three stories so it has room for a parking lot.
“The traffic there is already very, very bad,” Jensen added. He is urging the city and developer to work together to make infrastructure improvements to support the growth.
Some of the residents' requests included a crosswalk, extended sidewalk, and turning lanes on Weddington Road.
Councilman Edmund Driggs, who represents the area, said he will continue working with transportation officials to find solutions to the traffic.
"I’m looking forward to making this come true,” he added.
Charlotte City Council could vote on Dreamkey's rezoning proposal as early as December 19.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions producing I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.
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