This old Sugar Creek motel site is turning into affordable townhomes in the low $200Ks
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The Economy Inn was demolished. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
A Sugar Creek budget motel — widely considered predatory by the adjacent historically Black neighborhood — is being redeveloped into 39 affordable townhomes for first-time homeowners, priced around $190,000 to $230,000.
Why it matters: The development, named Hoover Townes after longtime Hidden Valley teacher Brenda Hoover, will house families earning 60% to 80% of the area median income, at a time when rising housing costs are pricing families out of Charlotte neighborhoods. Four townhomes will be reserved for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers.
What they're saying: "For a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath townhome — you can't find those price points anywhere in the city of Charlotte," says Marcus Kornegay, executive director of local developer Prosperity Alliance.
- He estimates monthly mortgage payments will range from $1,000 to $1,400.
- The median sale price of a house in Hidden Valley was $360,000 last month, up 38.2% over last year, according to Redfin.
- The roughly $8 million project is feasible only because the city purchased the land for $4.2 million and transferred it to Prosperity Alliance for $1. Construction partner True Homes is building the homes at cost, forgoing profit.
Driving the news: The Economy Inn was demolished, and grading and other site work are underway on the land. Prosperity Alliance expects to start building homes toward the end of the year and is targeting mid-2026 to move in the first families.
The big picture: The Sugar Creek Road and Interstate 85 intersection is one of the city's corridors of opportunity. In historically underinvested areas, such as Beatties Ford and Albemarle roads, the city has strategically spent money to spur revitalization, from adding street lights to implementing new police programs.
- This redevelopment is one of the initiative's more ambitious undertakings, as partners had to work through relocating families staying in the motels and environmental challenges.
- The project is also a step toward the city's goal of reducing the number of hotel rooms in the Sugar Creek area. The intersection has become a cluster of cheap motels that draw crime and trap low-income families in a cycle, spending hundreds each week to live there and never being able to save up for permanent housing.
Zoom out: Nonprofits and private investors are repurposing other nearby motels.
- A Washington investment group is converting the Rodeway Inn and Speedway Inn into about 200 micro-apartments with amenities, including a game room and co-working space.
- Local nonprofit Heal Charlotte has repurposed the former Baymont Inn on Equipment Drive as transitional housing for families to get their footing.
Flashback: The Hoover Townes site used to be the site of an Economy Inn and another abandoned motel known for criminal activity, says the area's City Council representative, Danté Anderson.
- After the city bought the land, neighbors said they would prefer that for-sale affordable homes replace the motels.
- Some city leaders were skeptical, suggesting it was a lot of money to pay off a slumlord, as WFAE reported at the time.
How it works: DreamKey Partners will help identify potential homebuyers. Through a partnership with Pinnacle Financial Partners, Hoover Townes will provide enhanced down payment assistance through the House Charlotte Plus program.
What's next: Shawn Kennedy, executive director of Prosperity Alliance, says people are already applying.
- "They're getting their credit situated. They're getting ready to buy," he says. "These houses won't be delivered for a year, so hopefully at that point [the families]'ll be ready to go."
