The first homeowners will receive keys to their new homes from Mayor Randall Woodfin on March 17, 2022, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating homeownership and the revitalization of the Ensley community. These will be the first closings under the $25 million partnership between the City of Birmingham and The NCRC Housing Rehab Fund, LLC (NCRC HRF), known as GROWTH by NCRC.
The City of Birmingham and GROWTH signed a development deal that began with building 27 affordable new homes in the historic Ensley community of Birmingham, Alabama. The new project, located at the former site of the Camelia Terrace Apartments near the 1100 block of 51st Street Ensley, features affordable single-family homes ranging from 1,227-1,700 square feet.
The City of Birmingham and GROWTH by NCRC are committed to revitalizing the area through investment in new home construction. In January 2022, Birmingham City Council voted to allocate $540,000 of American Rescue Plan funding to preserve affordability and offset rising construction costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Homes that would typically range $200,000-240,000 are being offered for sale from as low as the $170,000’s.
“The City of Birmingham’s commitment to neighborhood revitalization remains strong, and that’s why we’re proud to stand beside GROWTH by NCRC on the Oak Hill development,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “Oak Hill offers high-quality homeownership opportunities to a well-deserving community that has weathered economic challenges. The Ensley community is ripe for this kind of project. The addition of new, affordable houses will allow this community to know the joys of homeownership, as well as stimulate much-needed growth and pride in the area.”
GROWTH by NCRC provides homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income communities and people, with a focus on communities of color. In five years, GROWTH has invested nearly $150 million nationwide. GROWTH by NCRC also provides workforce development and housing counseling through local partnerships with community organizations in the areas they serve.
“Mayor Woodfin and the City of Birmingham are not just leading the way here, but also nationally in demonstrating what a commitment to affordable homeownership and reversing redlining looks like,” said Ed Gorman, Managing Director, the NCRC Housing Rehab Fund. “Our mission, and the mission of the banks who invested with us, is to preserve or create pathways to building generational wealth while uplifting neighborhoods that have been historically under-resourced. Together with Mayor Woodfin and the city, we are demonstrating to the country what a commitment to scale looks like in attacking the tremendous inventory crisis limiting homeownership and wealth-building opportunities for working-class Americans.”
The speed and scale at which the project is progressing combined with the ability to leverage banking relationships to create a variety of special financing programs are of national significance in helping to solve the affordable homeownership crisis and reducing the racial wealth and homeownership gaps.
The community broke ground in June 2021 with vertical construction starting in October 2021. Several homes are already under contract with the first six closings scheduled to take place in March/April 2022. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on-site March 17, 2022, at 9:30 am to welcome the first homeowners.
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About GROWTH by NCRC
We believe that no matter where you start in life, or the neighborhood you live in, every family deserves the opportunity to own a home, to start building wealth and to enjoy the American Dream. Our mission is to make homeownership possible for more people.
GROWTH is an initiative of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and is fueled by the NCRC Housing Rehab Fund (the “Fund”), a private equity real estate fund focused on rehabbing (and building new construction) single-family houses to provide affordable homeownership opportunities in low- and moderate-income communities or for low- and moderate-income people. The Fund has been operating for five years and is operating in nineteen cities.
For more information about NCRC Housing Rehab Fund, please contact Ed Gorman, egorman@ncrc.org, (202) 464-2728 or visit www.growthbyncrc.com.
About the City of Birmingham
For more information about Birmingham Community Development, please contact Christopher Hatcher at chris.hatcher@birminghamal.gov, (205) 254-2309 or visit www.birminghamal.gov/communitydevelopment.
