Fayetteville hotel to be converted into apartments for the homeless. Here is where and how

Paul Woolverton, Fayetteville Observer
·3 min read
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Following efforts to close down camps of homeless people around Fayetteville, the City Council this month voted to spend $5.4 million in federal money to convert an old hotel on South Eastern Boulevard into an apartment building to provide a place for homeless people to live.

It is one of five projects the City Council discussed Aug. 7 to help lower-income and homeless people have a place to live or improve their current housing as the cost of housing has leaped in recent years.

A city study in 2021 found there had been a 10% decrease in home ownership in Fayetteville and there was “extreme need for rentals” for people at or below 30% of the area’s median income. As of 2021, the Census Bureau said the median annual household income in Cumberland County was $50,746.

The five projects:

Convert the Night Inn into studio apartments for homeless people

Night Inn, on Eastern Blvd., is going to be converted into 137 apartments for homeless people to transition off the streets.
Night Inn, on Eastern Blvd., is going to be converted into 137 apartments for homeless people to transition off the streets.

A nonprofit organization called Step Up plans to convert the former Night Inn at 511 S. Eastern Boulevard into 137 studio apartments for homeless people.

  • It’s called permanent supportive housing.

  • It will have staff to provide services “that help individuals make the transition from living on the street, and sleeping on the street, to sleeping in a bed,” said Tod Lipka, the president and CEO of Step Up.

  • The services include training in life skills and for jobs, transportation assistance, access to food programs, support groups and other programs to help the residents stabilize their lives.

  • Cost: $5.4 million from the federal American Rescue Plan.

  • A city document says Step Up plans to ask the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners for supportive service funding.

Revive abandoned building on South Cool Spring Street

Developer Innovative Builds wants to make a long-abandoned property at 238 S. Cool Spring St. into a low-income apartment building. A rendering says it will be named Liberty Springs Apartments.

  • The building had been empty for at least 10 years and had become a nuisance property for the Police Department, said Christopher Cauley, the city’s director of economic and community development. “Nuisance” in this context means that it had been a nexus of criminal activity.

  • There are to be eight units — four studio apartments and four with one bedroom.

  • The City Council voted to provide a $400,000, 2%, 30-year loan. The money is from Fayetteville’s allocation of funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Rehab Fayetteville Gardens off Raeford Road

This is a privately operated, 100-unit low-income apartment complex on Purdue Drive off Raeford Road near the Harris Teeter shopping center. It was built in 1980.

  • Tenants pay no more than 30% of their income for rent, Cauley said.

  • Orbach Affordable Housing wants to buy the property and rehabilitate it, Cauley said. Orbach would replace electrical systems, install energy-efficient appliances, make structural repairs and address Americans With Disabilities Act requirements for accessibility.

  • The City Council approved lending $1.25 million to the project at 2% interest for 20 years with a balloon payment at the end. The money is from the American Rescue Plan.

Rehab Hillside Manor off Rosehill Road

Hillside Manor, a 32-unit apartment complex for seniors, operated by the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority, needs to make repairs, Cauley said.

The City Council voted for a $1.8 million loan from Fayetteville’s federal Housing and Urban Development allocation. The terms are still being set, but it would likely be 2% for 20 years, Cauley said.

Extend loan for Blanton Green II near Pamalee Drive

The Blanton Green II low-income apartment complex has a $380,000, 2% interest rate loan due to the city, Cauley said. The management company asked the city to extend the loan to November 2033 (when another loan on the property is due) so that the apartments will not have to refinance their entire debt at a higher rate — and raise rents to pay for the new loan.

The City Council is considering the request to extend the loan.

Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@fayobserver.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Eastern Boulevard hotel in Fayetteville to be converted to housing