Rumors swirl, but Waynesville Tower not for sale
Location and affordability make Waynesville Tower a valuable option for Haywood County’s low-income residents.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
Rumors of an impending sale of the Waynesville Tower apartment building have circulated in recent weeks, but according to Waynesville Housing Authority Executive Director Beth Kahl, the 62-unit downtown complex is not on the market and remains a cornerstone of the county’s increasingly fragile stock of affordable housing.
Kahl, who has worked with the WHA since 2009 and became executive director two years ago, said she is accustomed to hearing speculation about the future of the property.
“We’ve actually always gotten offers on the tower ever since I’ve been here,” she said. “It’s just the board is aware of the offers, and we’re trying to put a plan in place on when we will actually consider something like that — to make specific criteria.”
That planning process, still in its earliest stages, would create a scorecard-style rubric by which the authority’s governing board could evaluate proposals in a consistent manner.
The authority manages 100 public housing units in addition to the tower, which is financed separately through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program. Altogether, the authority is responsible for 162 units in Waynesville.
Interest in the tower has come from both for-profit and nonprofit entities. Kahl said one recent inquiry originated with Housing Preservation Incorporated, a Memphis-based nonprofit that specializes in preserving affordable housing. Even so, she said, the board has not engaged in substantive discussions about any sale.
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Although HPI appears to be focused on the long-term success of affordable housing communities, predatory private developers would most likely seek to acquire the building, kick low-income residents to the curb, renovate units and then charge market rents — or more.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says current fair market rents for Waynesville top $1,100 for a one-bedroom unit.
Concerns also stem from the fact that the USDA contract for the Towers expired in 2001. Since then, the property has operated under a year-to-year renewal, which means that if a private company purchased the building, it would only have to honor the affordable housing contract until the next renewal date in January.
Affordable units in Waynesville Tower rent below the area’s fair market rate. Losing those units to market-rate conversion would exacerbate what is already one of Haywood County’s most pressing challenges.
Kahl said the authority’s board, chaired by Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Ryan Newell with Mountain Projects’ Amanda Singletary serving as vice chair, doesn’t appear inclined to part with the property.
“I don’t feel that way at all,” Kahl said when asked if anyone on the board was pushing to sell. “Our board is just looking at all the areas that it can help. But we’re actually in a position where we’re trying to decide where we want to set ourselves up strategically for the next few years, and this is just one of the considerations as we develop how we want to set ourselves up.”
Singletary confirmed Kahl’s feelings.
“I don’t support selling,” she said. “The reason is because once that property is sold, it is gone, and it is gone for good. And when it comes to the tower specifically, one of the best features is the actual location itself. That is so incredibly important to the folks living there who need easy access to doctors, to shopping, to any resources they need to get to. No amount of money is ever going to replace that alone.”
Kahl also noted that the tower remains nearly full, with a current occupancy rate of 96%. Routine renovations and capital improvements have kept the building viable, including a new roof installed two years ago through the HOME program. Still, aging infrastructure presents looming costs. Kahl said she recently received a quote of $723,000 for exterior painting and caulking, a standard project that must be performed about every decade.
“That’s a great question,” she said when asked where the authority would find the money. “I’m looking at grants.”
The WHA’s annual budget is about $1.5 million. Despite the name, neither Waynesville nor Haywood County’s governments financially support the WHA or the tower, which is owned by the WHA and assessed at $2.9 million.
While some estimates suggest the building could fetch between $10 and $13 million if sold, Kahl doesn’t believe that would be sufficient to replace the 62 units of affordable housing it provides.
“It’s scary when you start talking about it and you’re like, ‘They could do this because it’s this much money, but it takes a lot to keep affordable housing here,’” she said. “We’re not interested in losing the affordable housing we have at that cost.”
The debate over the tower is part of a much larger national conversation about affordable housing. Across the United States, wages have stagnated while rents have skyrocketed, placing unprecedented strain on low- and middle-income households. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports a shortage of more than seven million affordable rental homes available to extremely low-income renters. In many metro areas, full-time workers earning the minimum wage cannot afford even a modest one-bedroom apartment.
North Carolina has not been immune to these pressures. The state’s rapid population growth has outpaced the supply of affordable units, and rural regions face their own challenges. The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency estimates that more than a quarter of renter households are cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on housing. In Western North Carolina, where mountainous terrain limits development and short-term rentals consume an increasing share of the housing stock, the shortage is especially acute.
Haywood County illustrates the problem clearly. According to census data, median household income here is below the statewide average, while demand for affordable units continues to rise.
Singletary said keeping affordable housing units in stock is difficult, especially when properties are sold and buyers want to convert them to market rents.
“I’m literally on the front lines of it every single da,y and there isn’t a week that goes by that we aren’t losing at least one property in Haywood County,” she said. “It’s frustrating.”
The destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene only deepened the crisis, eliminating existing units and driving up rents for those that remain. For residents on fixed incomes or working families earning service-sector wages, the loss of 62 affordable apartments in the heart of downtown Waynesville would be catastrophic.
Kahl said her agency’s mission is to prevent exactly that outcome.
“Our goal is to try to expand the affordable housing in Haywood County,” she said. “I’m meeting regularly with other agencies trying to figure out what we can do to get more affordable housing here. We’re also looking at the housing preservation list to see who’s about to expire so that we can try to keep the current affordable housing from going to fair market rate if at all possible.”
That broader context will shape the next steps for the authority’s board, which meets monthly. A lack of quorum prevented discussion at the most recent meeting, but Kahl said she hopes the group will soon establish benchmarks to guide any future deliberations over the tower.
“Our goal is to set a target of what we’re going to be looking for in the future,” she said.
For now, the tower remains in public hands, safe from the speculative market forces that have consumed other complexes. With occupancy high and residents engaged through board representation, the building stands as one of the few remaining footholds of affordable housing in downtown Waynesville.
“I would say that our best interest is the betterment of the community, and that is a huge factor for what we’re deciding, not just the numbers,” Kahl said.
Singletary said she hopes to dispel rumors that may have alarmed residents.
“I really want the tenants to know that we are working for them and we’re not out to sell or make a profit,” she said.
