What Raleigh's density bonus looks like in practice
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The Loft3 project on East Lenoir Street in Raleigh. Photo: Courtesy of Loft3
A condo building going up in east Raleigh will be the first to be built in the city that takes advantage of a density bonus for areas along frequent transit corridors.
Why it matters: To encourage more housing near frequent transit, Raleigh changed its land-use rules in 2022 to allow taller, denser development in exchange for affordable housing.
- There are now 11 routes in Raleigh that offer frequent transit service of 15 minutes.
Driving the news: The Loft3 condo project on East Lenoir Street is the first project to use the density bonus, which is letting its builder, Jiko Development, put 21 units onto less than a half acre of land.
- In exchange, Loft3 is making two of the units available for rent to those making 60% of area median income, which is now $92,700 for an individual.
How it works: To build more than 12 units on a property in a residential district, 20% of the additional units (over 12) must be affordable.
Zoom in: While the affordable units are set aside as rentals, the other 19 units at Loft3 are for-sale condos, ranging in price from $395,000 to $530,000.
- Patrick Young, Raleigh's director of planning and development, said more projects using the density bonus are in the pipeline. However, they are coming from non-profit developers rather than for-profit ones, like Jiko.
- Steven Wilk, of Jiko, told Axios his company is hoping to use Loft3 as a test case for how to build more affordably in the downtown area, tweaking several of its design choices around elevators and parking to build more efficiently.
State of play: Loft3 is located at 709 E. Lenoir St., across the street from Ligon Middle School.
- The area in east Raleigh is seeing a significant wave of investments, including $140 million for rebuilding Ligon Middle, a new aquatic center at Chavis Park and the future redevelopment of the DMV headquarters.
- It will also be less than a mile from the future bus rapid transit corridor being built along New Bern Avenue.