CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County leaders and west Charlotte community groups gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the purchase of 32 homes in the Hoskins Neighborhood.
It's located just northwest of Uptown Charlotte.
In a partnership with the West Side Community Land Trust (West Side CLT), the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners approved $6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to West Side CLT.
West Side CLT is buying up the homes to make sure they stay affordable.
“Hoskins is a great neighborhood, historic," Collen Emery, a west Charlotte resident, said.
Emery said she's lived in the neighborhood for several decades, but she's starting to see the area change.
“Come in, invest in our neighborhood but remember people do live here and have lived here for a long time," Emery said.
Right now, several areas around the Charlotte region are seeing displacement of long-time residents in neighborhoods facing lots of development.
“We have a lot of neighborhoods right outside of uptown Charlotte that are gentrifying,” Mecklenburg County manager Dena Diorio said.
Diorio said there's a large number of single-family homes owned by corporate landlords in Mecklenburg County. They gobble up houses, not giving first-time homebuyers a chance, while also burdening tenants with rising rents.
That's why the county donated million of dollars to West Side CLT.
“The county didn’t want to be a homeowner; we didn’t want to be a landlord, so us being able to provide funding for them to purchase those homes and maintain them was a great solution," Diorio said.
Now, with the homes bought, the goal is to preserve them.
Beverly Knox Davis, with Historic Hoskins Coalition Group and A Brighter Day Ministries, said the homes were going up for sale from a single landlord.
“They just want to buy it all up, and next thing you know, it’s not affordable housing and that’s not going to work for this area," Knox Davis said.
The land trust said they will keep the rents low and renovate them over the next two years. After that, renters have the opportunity to purchase their homes.
It's an opportunity in a community that has lacked prosperity.
“This area deserves to be on the map as well,” Knox Davis said.
Neighbors say they've been let down in the past and want to see all parties follow through.
“I think it’s a good idea, as long as they stick to the plan that they’ve told everybody,” Emery said.
The donation is the biggest donation the land trust has ever received.
Community members, like Knox Davis, said there's still a lot of work to do to improve west Charlotte, but many say this is a step in the right direction.
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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