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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: February 17, 2026 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-j <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution Amending the 2020 Affordable Housing Bond/CIP Funding for <br /> Homestead Gardens <br /> DEPARTMENT: Housing <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 2020 Bond/CIP Resolution Blake Rosser, Housing Director <br /> Proposed Resolution 919-245-2492 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a resolution amending the 2020 Bond/Capital Investment Plan (CIP) <br /> awards to allow for more straightforward contracting for the Homestead Gardens project. Staff is <br /> proposing to change the recipient of $1.51VI in funding from the Center for Community Self-Help <br /> to a combination of CASA and Community Home Trust. <br /> BACKGROUND: In the 2020 round of Affordable Housing Bond/CIP funding, the Center for <br /> Community Self-Help (Self-Help) was awarded $1.51VI for the following purpose: <br /> "Funds will be allocated to the Center for Community Self-Help as a grant for development of 2200 <br /> Homestead Road, a mixed-income rental and homeownership development in Chapel Hill with <br /> 113 affordable units and four (4) market-rate units. Affordable units will be leased or sold to <br /> households earning less than thirty percent (30%) and up to eighty percent (80%) of the area <br /> median income." <br /> Unspecified in the resolution was that Self-Help would use these funds for site development of <br /> the multi-partner Homestead Gardens project, which has been in development for several years. <br /> While site development is nearly ready to begin, a complication arose when the County began <br /> developing the contract with Self-Help. The property at 2200 Homestead Road is owned by the <br /> Town of Chapel Hill and is to be ground leased to Affordable Housing (AH) developers CASA and <br /> Community Home Trust (CHT) for vertical development. Self-Help is responsible purely for the <br /> site development, and will not have any interest in either the land or buildings. This means that <br /> once the site is developed, Self-Help would have no responsibility or capacity for maintaining <br /> affordability, and therefore could not be held responsible with any penalty should the affordability <br /> of the project lapse before its contracted time. <br /> County staff has worked with Town of Chapel Hill (Town) staff to find a solution to this problem <br /> and had explored an interlocal agreement that would make the Town ultimately responsible for <br /> the project's affordability. However, it was determined that it would be unfeasible for the Town to <br /> become liable for the affordability of buildings it will not own. Therefore, County and Town staff <br />