East Carolina Community Development Inc. broke ground March 23 on its largest affordable multi-family project to date in Jacksonville.
The 88-unit Wellington Grove Apartments will be situated on 14.5 acres with large open areas for recreation and family-friendly amenities, such as picnic pavilions and separate playgrounds for children and toddlers.
“With so many communities, all the kids have is room to walk through the parking lot. There’s nothing for kids to do,” said Mark McCloskey, ECCDI’s vice president for planning and development. “At [our last family development] Meadow’s Gate, we’ve found that people are bringing their kids to our playgrounds from the surrounding top-market rent apartments because there are no opportunities there for them.”
This is ECCDI’s eighth multi-family development in Jacksonville, where demand for affordable rental housing is high.
“We run market studies every year, but the real indicator is the waiting lists on our existing developments,” said McCloskey. “As long as people are still looking for a place to live, we’re going to keep catering to them.”
ECCDI’s most recent project, a multi-family community for seniors, had more than 100 people on the waiting list before construction was completed. Another senior housing development is in the pipeline to address some of that demand.
Wellington Grove is funded in large part by tax credits from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, which ranked the property the number one site in the east during its 2011 tax credit application and review process. The project is expected to be completed in spring or summer of 2013.
For more information about ECCDI, visit www.eccdi.com.
View our photos from the event.