CARY, NC – Ground is being broken today on 25 units of moderately priced housing in Cary, the first lower-priced units to be constructed with Town assistance since the Town of Cary passed its Affordable Housing Plan last year. Officials from the Town of Cary and Wake County governments as well as representatives of Jeff Fike Builders, DHIC, Inc., and Unity 3 Builders will gather at 4:00 PM for a groundbreaking ceremony at 200 Waldo Street, one of two sites on which the 25 units will be constructed. A reception/information session for potential buyers will be held after the groundbreaking at the Page-Walker Hotel on Ambassador Loop on the Cary Town Hall campus.

Both the Town of Cary and Wake County provided funds to help in the construction of the 25 moderately-priced homes near downtown. Four affordable single-family homes will be built on Hunter Street by DHIC, Inc. and Unity 3 Builders by spring of 2002, and 21 affordable townhomes will be built by Jeff Fike Builders on Waldo Street by December, 2002. Both downtown locations offer walkable sites and, consistent with Cary’s Town Center Area Plan, are in-fill redevelopment of difficult sites.

Three-quarters of Cary residents own their homes, a higher proportion than in the county, state or nation, and over two-thirds of Cary residences are single-family houses. Homes typically cost much more in Cary than in the surrounding area with the median sale price of all new housing in Cary exceeding $289,000 in 2000.

Armed with these facts, Cary leaders have sought increases in the amount of affordable housing to promote economic, racial and ethnic diversity while also enlarging the pool of workers for local employers, including Town government. In 2000, the Town Council adopted the Affordable Housing Plan.

"The escalating cost of housing in Cary precludes many people from having the opportunity to live here. They include police officers, firefighters and other Town employees, teachers, retail clerks and service workers," said Shawn McNamara, Town of Cary Senior Planner and the head of the Town’s housing initiatives.

Cary’s Affordable Housing Plan endorses a variety of approaches. Cary is working with Habitat for Humanity and other nonprofit organizations and with developers. The Employee Homeownership Assistance Program helps Town of Cary employees with moderate incomes. In June 2001, the Town cosponsored an Affordable Housing Homebuyers Fair at Saint Michael's Catholic Church with free information to the public. Another fair is scheduled for March 2002.

The 2000-2001 Town budget included $1.1 million to provide home ownership opportunities for moderate-income families. Cary plans to combine that money with $400,000 in loan funds from Wake County. The Town issued a request for proposals from developers, both non-profit and for-profit. Proposals were due in late June 2001.

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