A new apartment complex development in East Winston Salem seeks to walk the fine line of addressing generations of underinvestment in a historically African American community while trying to avoid gentrification and pricing out residences.
The Metropolitan Village complex at 733 Woodland Court received a 2024 CoStar Impact Award for multifamily development of the year in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Metropolitan Village replaces dilapidated affordable housing with new apartment units while giving residents little to no rent increases. For example, a family making 30% of the area median income — $24,450 annually — will pay $550 for a brand new two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit.
Roughly 15% of units at the complex are set aside for deeply low-income households — primarily residents of the prior affordable housing buildings — and more than half are priced for low-to-moderate-income households.
About the Project: The 198-unit complex was developed by Jaron Norman, president and CEO of Liberty Atlantic Development Partners, and created through a series of various local partnerships and includes plans to create the Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity. That facility will occupy 90% of the 13,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space included in the project. The developer is also in discussions with two local and regional banks around the remaining commercial space, seeking community access to financial services and financial education. Public-private partnership elements of the project include roughly $2 million in improvements to the nearby cityscape.
What the Judges Said: Experts applauded the project both for the needs it serves and the collaborative approach used to get it across the finish line. “Great example of community partnerships working to provide quality housing,” said Robbie Perkins, shareholder and market president at NAI Piedmont Triad. “This amazing development in a traditionally underserved community will transform and bring together the entire City of Winston Salem. It is a generational project," said Mark Owens, CEO of Greater Winston Salem Inc. “By collaborating with major local employers like Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the project ensures that essential workers — teachers, utility workers, and nurses' assistants — have access to affordable housing, thereby enhancing growth and diversification within the community," said Margarita Kaprielyan, associate professor of finance at Elon University.
They Made It Happen: Jim Sorenson, Jeremy Keele and Kristian Peterson of Catalyst Opportunity Funds. Jaron M. Norman and Lyvonne Bovell of Liberty Atlantic. Stephan Lillie and Terry Hales of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Mayor Allen Joines, City Council member Annette Scippio and assistant city manager Patrice Tone Title of the city of Winston Salem. Jim Anthony of APG Advisors.