Winston-Salem housing initiative faces delay as funding gap continues

The next step in a housing project that aims to transform the northeast community of Winston-Salem could face a significant delay as officials work to close a funding gap.

The Choice Neighborhood Initiative is a five-phase project that looks to revitalize the Cleveland Avenue neighborhood, creating more than 400 new, mixed-income housing units.

The development was sparked by a $30 million grant from the federal government, but it has continued to face a multimillion-dollar funding gap.

City officials celebrated the opening of the first phase of the project earlier this year, which consisted of an 81-unit apartment complex.

Housing Authority of Winston-Salem Executive Director Kevin Cheshire says demolition for the second phase will start in the coming weeks, but further construction will be halted until they close a $2 million deficit. This affects 72 units.

"We applied for this grant and were awarded the grant pre-COVID when these grants were $30 million, but now we're having to build it post-COVID, and in the post-COVID environment if we were to receive the same grant award today, it would be $50 million," he says.

Cheshire says Forsyth County declined to provide funding for the project.

He says HAWS is now working with the federal government to see if there are any additional supplemental grants.