The Greenville Housing Fund continues to make strides toward improving the affordable housing deficit in Greenville County.
In 2024, the nonprofit organization helped secure low-income housing tax credits for two key affordable housing projects: Southernside Senior and The Alliance. The GHF also broke ground on Southpointe Senior, a $23 million affordable housing project, in late November.
“We are having a really significant impact on affordable workforce housing, and we want to keep that momentum going,” said Bryan Brown, CEO of the GHF.
Around 100 elected officials, industry partners and community stakeholders gathered to hear these accomplishments during the Greenville Housing Fund’s annual meeting Dec. 10. The event featured guest speakers including Greenville Mayor Knox White and Greenville County Councilman Ennis Fant, a panel discussion, and a presentation of the organization’s 2025 priorities.
Development pipeline
Looking toward the future, Brown said the GHF plans to focus more on neighborhood-scale affordable housing developments. Two projects are in the GHF’s 2025 pipeline that fit this category and will be created with local neighborhood partners.
The Huddle at Sterling is a $2.1 million duplex project that will be developed through a joint venture partnership with The Sterling Land Trust. The project will consist of 10 mixed-income rental homes with 18 total bedrooms.
The second project is the Villas at Southernside, an 11-unit affordable townhome development on West Washington Street. The GHF will partner with Homes of Hope to complete the $3.25 million project. The city of Greenville donated the land for the project.
Libba King, GHF’s vice president of real estate and capital markets, said the organization’s project pipeline also includes large multi-family efforts in the 2024 low-income housing tax credit round with South Carolina Housing. These projects include:
- Northgate Manor and Victoria Arms: Two affordable housing projects totaling 120 units being developed in partnership with the Greer Housing Authority. In total, the projects are expected to cost $29 million.
- 570 Davis Road: A 180-unit project in Piedmont being developed in partnership with AMCS Development. The project is expected to cost $51.8 million.
Priority efforts
In 2025, the GHF also plans to formally launch the Greenville Community Home Trust, a program that focuses on home acquisition, renovation and home ownership.
King said the program seeks to provide a deep subsidy per single-family home and lessen the need for long-term public subsidies for homeownership opportunities with every sale thereafter. Other benefits include preventing the displacement of the workforce in high-growth areas and creating avenues of wealth building via shared equity.
“We’ll be putting a big effort next year to really bring more light to this,” King said.
The GHF, in partnership with the city of Greenville, is also seeking the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Pro Housing Grant. The organization hopes to hear back about the $5 million grant in the first quarter of 2025.
If awarded, the grant would be used to support several efforts including the construction and preservation of affordable housing. Tiffany Santagati, GHF’s vice president of operations, explained the grant would also help the organization hire a consultant to update the data set for the Greenville affordable housing strategy. Some funding will be used for the Greenville Community Home Trust and to support community education and training efforts.
Other priorities of the GHF in 2025 include:
- Pursuing opportunities for permanent supportive housing to help with homelessness
- Launch homeowner preservation program 2.0 in conjunction with the city of Greenville
- Build an effective resident support program with Leadwell 360, a Greenville-based business consultant
- Weaving diversity, equity and inclusion in all internal and external operations
“We understand that we have a lot of work to do,” Santagati said. “We look forward to partnering with you and the broader community.”
By the numbers
Since its inception, the Greenville Housing Fund has directed $21,662,000 toward affordable and workforce housing.
- 730 homes preserved
- 1,018 homes produced
- 1,748 homes with GHF Investment
- 93 homes supported with tax incentives
Advocacy agenda
The Greenville Affordable Housing Coalition — convened by the Greenville Housing Fund — released its 2025 advocacy agenda during its Dec. 10 meeting. The coalition aims to cut the affordable housing deficit in half by creating 10,000 affordable units and preserve 3,000 existing affordable homes.
Learn more about the coalition by visiting greenvillehousingfund.com/greenville-affordable-housing-coalition.
