By Mia Khatib
Correspondent
RALEIGH – Several years ago, Raleigh Area Land Trust envisioned having 100 properties online in five years. Its current projects will put it at about 30 homes by 2026, but executive director Kevin Campbell said they still feel like they can get there.
“It will take a lot of work and a lot of partnerships to get there, but that vision is still possible,” he told The Tribune. “That would be just a really quick start for a land trust and, once we can celebrate that in 2027, it’ll be quite a milestone for Raleigh and Wake County.”
Eighteen of the upcoming units will sit in Southeast Raleigh’s historic Idlewild neighborhood. The cottage court arrangement will be a first for the city, and will include 14 for-sale units to households at 60% of the area median income and below, and four rentals for people earning between 30% to 80% of the AMI.
Construction is set for early next year, and Campbell said 15 people have already been waitlisted for RALT properties. Eligible individuals can apply online and are required to fulfill certain homebuyer information and education sessions to be approved.
RALT also plans to bring four units to Cary and at least two others separate from Idlewild to Raleigh in 2025 that will be offered to families on their waitlist before the Cottages.
“In Idlewild, a lot of people from the community have already been displaced by what’s happening real estate wise,” Campbell said. “There are all the fair housing laws [and anti-discrimination laws] that we, of course, comply with… and, at the same time, we are able to give preference to people that have some connections to the neighborhood.”
The $8 million Cottages of Idlewild project has really been a community effort: the city of Raleigh owns the parcel of land, RALT is developing the homes, and donors like St. Michael’s Episcopal Church have played a hand, too.
The church recently donated $300,000 to the project, which the Reverend Gregory Jones said is particularly compelling because the land trust model ensures homes remain affordable in perpetuity. He believes it’s a sustainable solution to a systemic problem.
“It reflects our core values as a faith community – building not just homes but futures,” he wrote. “Supporting the Idlewild project is our way of living out our faith and demonstrating what’s possible when the community comes together to tackle big challenges.”
St. Michael’s was also the first congregation to make a major donation to King’s Ridge, a 100-unit affordable housing complex for people transitioning out of homelessness.
“Similarly, the Idlewild Cottages project speaks to our passion for preserving the history and character of Raleigh’s historically Black neighborhoods while also expanding the spectrum of affordable housing to include homeownership,” Jones added. “By supporting efforts like these, we hope to encourage other congregations and organizations to join in addressing the urgent need for affordable housing in our city.”
The Tom & Pat Gipson Family Foundation is another RALT partner that has offered the nonprofit a one-to-one match for up to $125,000 raised by Dec. 15. Campbell told The Tribune they are less than $18,000 away from that goal, as of Nov. 22.
“It is just being immediately put to work getting families into homes,” he said. “It’s exciting for us, and I think it would be for donors to know that their funds can make such an immediate difference.”
Mia Khatib is a freelance journalist covering affordable housing for The Tribune.
