Winston-Salem approves funding for housing development at former Budget Inn site

The site of the former Budget Inn on Peters Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem could soon become an affordable housing development. Winston-Salem City Council recently approved funding to boost the proposed project.

A group of private developers, nonprofits, and the city are partnering for the initiative which will be called The Flats at Peters Creek.

The plan is for 62 rental units to be constructed at the site. The housing would be income based and to qualify, households would have to make no more than 60 percent of the area median income.

PCCI Land, Inc., an entity of The Shalom Project, bought the Budget Inn in 2019. The vacant motel was demolished soon after. 

The City of Winston-Salem recently approved $500,000 in gap financing for the new project. But developers still need to secure tax credits from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to help move forward with their plans.

Marla Newman, the community development director with the city, says it's part of a larger goal to meet housing needs.

"I do think there's a big misunderstanding about who lives in affordable housing," says Newman. "These are working people, working families, the backbone of our community in many instances.”

If developers secure all funding sources, construction on The Flats at Peters Creek is expected to begin sometime next year.

Newman says a housing study and needs assessment conducted a few years ago showed that about 16,000 affordable homes are needed in the community. The city recently committed to try to develop 750 units each year over the next ten years.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news