Housing

Understanding corporate landlords: Who are they?

By Eric Moore, Ph.D.
Identifying corporate landlords, sometimes referred to as real estate investment trusts (REITs) or institutional investors, can be a complicated process. They can also have dozens of subsidiaries with unique names that mask the actual size of their portfolio. 

So, how can we differentiate between “independent operations”, individuals who own one or two properties often under Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), mom-and-pop investors, those who own between three and nine properties, and the more large-scale operations of corporate landlords? […]

New Gambrell Faculty Fellows Address Critical Community Questions

How could community help us weather the impact of climate change? How might Charlotte’s ever-evolving housing market impact local schools? What does it mean to truly mend the harms of systemic racism? Those are just a few of the questions that UNC Charlotte faculty members will work to answer as part of the fifth cohort […]

One Large Shift: A Culture of Cooperatives

Categories: General News Tags: Housing

Editor’s Note: This article is a part of a series of guest contributors considering the question, “What small tweak or large shift would you make in 2023 that would catalyze sustainable growth and ensure equitable wellbeing in our region?” “A nation of homeowners, of people who won a real share in their own land, is […]

Report: 2022 Matthews Housing Needs Assessment

On February 27, 2023, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and Town of Matthews shared findings from the 2022 Matthews Housing Needs Assessment. The study report includes findings about demographics, housing, land use, and key informant perspectives related to Matthews’ housing. The report also offers recommendations for advancing affordable housing as the population in Matthews continues […]

Housing Policies and Ice Cream

Categories: General News Tags: Housing

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. If you are like me and most other people, you like ice cream—a food that almost perfectly matches our brains’ evolved desire for sweet, fatty, calorie-rich foods. So what policies should we adopt regarding ice cream—should we subsidize it? Should we mandate certain minimum amounts […]

Introducing the homelessness prevention integrated data report

Categories: Data, General News Tags: Homeless, Housing

(This article has been reposted with permission from the Building Bridges Blog. To see original article, visit http://mecklenburghousingdata.org/) Last year my family found itself in a difficult situation. As we approached the end of our lease, our landlord notified us that our rent would increase $150 per month if we renewed. We had two options: […]

Four things I wish I’d known about Charlotte’s housing market before I started writing about it

No local issue has been bigger than housing in Charlotte for the past few years — specifically, how much it costs to find a place to live. The soaring cost of housing dominates local news, local government meetings and local conversations. Talk to anyone in Charlotte, and it won’t be long before you hear some […]

Local leaders are worried about corporate landlords, but find their ‘hands tied’

Categories: General News Tags: Housing

Wall Street-backed companies are buying thousands of single-family homes and turning them into rentals across the Charlotte region. Local officials are worried about the effects on affordability, home ownership and equity — but there isn’t much they can do to directly stop the trend. That’s what Mecklenburg County commissioners heard this week from county staff […]

Examining housing needs at Brookhill Village in the event of redevelopment

In 2020, Lookout Housing Ventures proposed a redevelopment plan for Brookhill Village, a 36-acre naturally occurring affordable housing development near the intersection of Remount Road and South Boulevard. Although the proposed development has not moved forward, the approximately 120 households of Brookhill Village may be at risk of displacement if Brookhill Village were to be […]

With homeless numbers rising, Charlotte-Mecklenburg works on a new plan

With the number of people experiencing homelessness in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County rising dramatically in the past year, local governments, nonprofit organizations and businesses are gearing up to implement a new plan over the next few years. A major goal of the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy will be to ensure homelessness is rare, […]