LeVelle Moton grew up in Raleigh’s projects. He’s returning to build affordable homes.

North Carolina Central University head basketball coach LeVelle Moton grew up in Raleigh’s Lane Street housing projects, just east of downtown.

He’s gone on to have a successful career as a coach, but he always remembers where he grew up.

Moton confirmed Tuesday that Raleigh Raised Development, the company he co-owns, has secured $8.3 million in funding to construct Cottages of Idlewild, Raleigh’s first affordable “cottage court,” at 907 E. Lane St.

Five years in the making, it’s a public-private partnership with the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT) and Haven Design | Build, and part of Moton’s vision to preserve his historically Black neighborhood. NC Realtors Housing Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, and Coastal Credit Union Foundation are among the donors.

It will bring 18 affordable homes to 1.7 acres of city-owned land. It’s just around the corner from where Moton used to pick up games at the local park — what he calls “his sanctuary” — and attend Boys & Girls Club.

With funding in place, he said they can now break ground this summer. He anticipates the build to take 14 to 18 months.

“It brings me profound relief,” said Moton, 49, who moved to Raleigh at age 8 where his single mother, Hattie McDougald, raised him on her own. “I’m a son of the Idlewild community. These neighborhoods hold rich histories.”

Inside Idlewild’s new mixed-income subdivision

Cottages of Idlewild will feature four rental units for residents earning 50% to 80% of the area median income (AMI). That’s around $23,800 to $81,600.

They’ve also earmarked 14 for-sale homes for first-time homebuyers at or below 60% percent of the AMI. Offerings include two and three bedrooms ranging from 1,206 to 1,439 square feet.

Residents looking to buy one of these homes could have a mortgage “as low as $145,000,” RALT said.

But it comes with a proviso.

Buyers must agree to its community land trust model. Under the deal, the trust retains permanent ownership of the land. Buyers, in turn, lease the land at a nominal rate — around $50 a month — for a term of 99 years; and pay reduced property taxes.

On the flipside, resale is restricted to ensure the home remains affordable for future generations.

This approach, Moton believes, is the best way to combat what he see as the increasing downsides of gentrification.

“I’ve witnessed people try to infiltrate our neighborhoods and profit,” he said. In part, that’s what motivated him to co-found his Black-owned construction company in 2020. Separately, Raleigh Raised Development is behind the redevelopment of Heritage Park, a housing project in Raleigh’s Warehouse District.

“For me, it’s deeply personal. I’m fueled by a deep sense of responsibility.”

Preserving Raleigh’s Black neighborhoods

The Idlewild community, founded in 1910 near Raleigh’s Capitol Square and St. Augustine’s University, is one of the city’s first neighborhoods where former enslaved people were allowed to own homes.

But residents in this once-thriving Black community are increasingly getting squeezed out by rising property values.

While prices are slowly cooling after record highs in 2022, Wake County’s median sale price (mid-way point) was still $448,310 in February, according to the latest data from Triangle MLS. That’s up .2% year-over-year.

RALT, founded in 2019, seeks to bridge this growing affordability gap. It provides “missing middle” housing to low- to moderate-income families so they can remain in their communities without fear of being displaced.

The Cottages of Idlewild project is “only the beginning,” RALT’s executive director Kevin Campbell said. “There’s so much more that we’ll need to build.”

The plan is to scale quickly: 100 affordable homes over the next five years, he said.

“We’re currently in discussions throughout the county on additional projects. Stay tuned.”

Learn more

RALT is holding an information session about the Cottages of Idlewild at 301 S. Swain St. on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. For more information, go to ralt.org/cottages-of-idlewild.

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