Authority Signs Agreement With WinnDevelopment to Address Rental Housing Supply

Beaufort, NC (February 23, 2023) – The Beaufort Housing Authority (BHA) and WinnDevelopment, an award-winning developer based in Boston, announced today they have reached an agreement to replace the Town’s 100 aged public housing apartments and to build approximately 300 mixed-income apartments to meet the community’s growing housing needs.

Residents of Beaufort and surrounding Carteret County face significant multifamily housing challenges, according to a comprehensive housing needs assessment conducted in January 2021 by The Carteret County Economic Development Foundation and Carteret County Association of Realtors. The assessment found a high percentage of cost-burdened renters and homeowners, high demand for apartment rentals, and pent-up demand for housing that serves very low, and low-income renter households.

“The Beaufort Housing Authority has reached a tremendous milestone by entering a public-private partnership with the Town of Beaufort to provide Affordable, Workforce and Attainable housing,” said BHA Chairman Richard deButts, Jr. “The Master Developer Agreement with WinnDevelopment, one of the country’s prominent developers, brings vast experience in building within historical coastal communities. Our sensitivity to architectural design and environmental issues were major factors in choosing WinnDevelopment.”

“I would like to recognize and publicly thank the current BHA Board of Directors: John Lampros, Bill Morris, Perry Harker, Connie Shannon and Paula Gillikin; past directors Diane Meelheim and Elwyn Wood; BHA Executive Director Rachel Carroll; resident advisor Lora Fasolino; BHA consultants Reggie Barner and Jamie Norment; Beaufort Mayor Sharon Harker, Town Manager Todd Clark and former Mayor Richard Stanley; the Town Commissioners and Town Planning and Inspections Director Kyle Garner for all their guidance and effort,” added deButts.

The BHA-WinnDevelopment agreement calls for the construction of 100 new public housing apartments to replace the existing 100 affordable apartments, which were built in 1969 and 1970. Housing Authority residents will remain in their current homes until the new development is ready for them to relocate.

The development agreement also calls for approximately 300 additional affordable and workforce apartments to be built on BHA property in Beaufort to serve households earning from 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) to those earning up to 120 percent of AMI. The housing authority owns 27 acres in the town.

"I look forward to the ability to serve our community at a greater scale while maintaining a high standard of customer service, dedication and integrity,” said BHA Executive Director Rachel Carroll. Identified as a potential partner following a search conducted by the BHA during the summer of 2022, WinnDevelopment is the development arm of WinnCompanies, an award-winning national developer and a leading manager of affordable, mixed-income and market rate apartment communities.

“We’re very pleased to have been selected for this important project with support from the Town of Beaufort and the Beaufort Housing Authority,” said WinnDevelopment Senior Project Director Christopher Fleming. “This puts us in position to work with the BHA to begin the design and planning process and to seek support for this much-needed housing from local and state agencies, including the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.”

WinnDevelopment is currently working with public housing authorities in Massachusetts and Virginia on plans to replace obsolete affordable housing units with modern apartments for public housing residents. The company is known for planning and building environmentally sensitive, sustainable affordable and mixed-income housing, and has a long track record as a developer on historic, adaptive reuse projects. No other residential developer in the United States has won more awards for preserving and transforming vacant schools, mills and other historic buildings into multifamily housing.

In addition, WinnCompanies’ property management arm, WinnResidential, manages public housing communities in six states. The company currently manages 504 apartments at three other North Carolina properties located in Charlotte, Monroe and Raleigh. Its sister company, WinnResidential Military Housing Services, operates 6,183 privatized military homes for members of the U.S. Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point in Havelock.

ABOUT WINNCOMPANIES

WinnCompanies is an award-winning, national owner, developer and manager of high-impact affordable, middle income, mixed-income, market rate and military housing communities. Founded in Boston in 1971 and supported by 3,800 team members in 23 states and the District of Columbia, WinnCompanies is one of the nation’s leading multi-family housing managers with 105,600 residential and military apartment homes under management. It is a leading manager of affordable housing and privatized U.S. military housing in the United States. The company owns 125 apartment communities in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Ed Cafasso	Rachel Carroll
WinnDevelopment/WinnCompanies	Executive Director, Beaufort Housing Authority
edcafasso@gmail.com	rachel@beauforthousinginc.com
Call or Text: (617) 455-9651	(252) 776-0774

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