Dare County housing partner bills $1M for project

Plans to build 400 units have gone unfulfilled

MANTEO — Dare County’s selected housing partner, Coastal Affordable Housing, LLC, has invoiced nearly $1 million in taxpayer funding for pre-development expenses and recently invoiced the county for nearly $300,000 more.

Over two years ago, Coastal Affordable Housing indicated intentions to construct up to 400 housing units in Dare County by the end of 2023, according to a county press release.

No units have been built to date, and no development agreement has yet been made.

The company has a $5 million limit for pre-development expenses, according to that agreement.

The North Carolina General Assembly allocated $35 million for the construction of “affordable housing units within the jurisdictional boundaries of Dare County” as part of the state budget that passed in November 2021. The next February, Dare County selected Raleighbased consortium, Coastal Affordable Housing, LLC, to receive that funding, according to a release.

If the project is never completed, the company could still receive up to $5 million, said the 22-page agreement between Coastal Affordable Housing and Dare County.

The company has not closed on land for the project, even though one item on an invoice it sent the county last May was nearly $600,000 for a specific purchase of land in Manteo. The other invoice items totaled almost $400,000.

The Manteo property cost and the rest of the May 8, 2023, invoice items totaling $389,633.73 are paid through the $35 million legislative funding, which the county received for the specific project of addressing local housing needs, according to Dare County Manager Bobby Outten.

The almost $600,000 set aside for the Manteo land purchase is in a trust fund with the company’s lawyer, and when all the “contingencies are met,” the county will approve that money for closing on the property, according to Outten.

Coastal Affordable Housing is considering purchasing “two properties I’m aware of,” Outten told The Virginian-Pilot. One property is on the west side of Manteo and a “larger tract” is in Kitty Hawk near The Woods Road.

It is unclear exactly where the Kitty Hawk land is.

The Manteo land known as the Schiffman property is a vacant, nearly 6-acre property is owned by Frank Vance Turner, but managed by Manteo resident Harry Schiffman, who received last year’s property tax bill, according to Dare County records.

On Wednesday, Dare County Public Information Director Dorothy Hester shared a copy of the company’s second invoice to the county with The Pilot.

The 66-page invoice dated Feb. 14 is for $274,612.51, covering pre-development work from May 1, 2023, through Jan. 31.

Hester said the county received the invoice March 20 and it has not yet been paid.

“There are two outstanding items, including certification that funds were used for intended purposes and a summary of activities and accomplishments,” Hester said in an email.

Pre-development work includes finding the property, as well as drawing plans to “see what will fit” for buildings, sewer and parking, Outten said.

“You have to do the testing and the wetlands delineations.”

Then the developer would need to and get government’s approval. Kitty Hawk Town Manager Melody Clopton said neither she nor any town staff have had discussions with Coastal Affordable Housing representatives.

Manteo Town Manger Melissa Dickerson said Wednesday that the company had not contacted her, but the property it was rumored to be considering is outside town limits.

“The developer is required to bring us the property, bring us the deal,” Outten said. “We’re not involved in the property acquisition.”

James Jordan Hennessey, who is the only Coastal Affordable Housing partner in Dare County. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Hennessey has consistently not returned calls or requests for comment to The Virginian-Pilot in recent months.

Housing goals undefined

The precise goals of the housing efforts, including rental rates and target clientele, remain undefined.

“The county wishes to have workforce housing designed, developed and operated by developer and made available to the fulltime citizens of the county at rental levels to be agreed upon in a development agreement,” according to the pre-development agreement.

Dare County formed a housing task force, which held its first meeting in January, after turbulence over local housing issues ramped up in previous months.

After a legislative provision Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, apparently inserted in the state budget last year, all six Dare County towns filed a lawsuit against the state

The towns viewed the provision as usurping their ability to govern their towns, as it meant Coastal Affordable Housing, LLC, would not be required to comply with a town’s zoning for its state-funded housing project.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners maintained that the county did not request the provision and passed a resolution to not use the provision at its December meeting. The board began planning the task force, which includes membership from each town government, among others.

The state filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Jan. 12. The matter has not yet gone to court, according to online case information.

The second Dare County Housing Task Force meeting on March 19 was spent “defining the problems,” and agreeing that residents of high, middle and low economic statuses all face housing challenges, according to Outten.

Which group or groups will be targeted in the housing project has not been decided.