Crosland breaks ground on second phase of Chapel Hill affordable housing community, Dobbins Hill

To: Triangle area reporters who cover Chapel Hill community and development news

When: April 21. 2008 – 11:00 a.m.

Where: Dobbins Hill Community, Dobbins Drive, off North Fordham Boulevard

News: Crosland breaks ground on phase II of Dobbin Hills apartment community 56th District N.C. House Representative Verla Insko to keynote Bob Kucab, Executive Director of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to speak

Raleigh, N.C., April 18, 2008 – On Monday, April 21, Crosland will break ground on phase II of Dobbins Hill, the affordable housing garden apartment community located minutes away from the intersection of I-40 and 15-501 bypass in desirable Chapel Hill. The Town of Chapel Hill committed $120,000 for funding of this project. The Affordable Housing Group, a statewide, nonprofit housing development organization based in Charlotte, is acting as a co-development partner and sponsor for the funds from the Town of Chapel Hill. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. with Rep. Verla Insko as the keynote speaker.

Crosland is the property owner and developer for the adjacent Dobbins Hill affordable housing community built in 1994. The affordable housing provision for Dobbins Hill was established to provide well-designed, safe housing for citizens earning less than 50 percent of the area’s median income who live and work in Chapel Hill.

Phase II construction will consist of two buildings with 32 additional multi-family units and 54 additional parking spaces. The addition of an activity and exercise room will also add to the list of amenities that include private patios with outside storage and a community picnic and children’s playground area. Upon completion, the 6.8-acre site will include a total of 87 affordable rental units with two, three and four-bedroom floor plans.

“Dobbins Hill provides an underserved portion of the town’s population with quality housing in a living and working neighborhood that’s located in an attractive location – close to neighboring office buildings, retail, major roads and mass transit opportunities,” said Dean Edwards, vice president of Crosland’s affordable housing division.

Crosland recently won national honors for another affordable housing project, Laurels of Junaluska in Asheville, from the National Association of Home Builders Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Awards.

Crosland employs 75 people in the Raleigh-Durham market and currently has more than 1,400 multi-family units in the development pipeline, 750,000 square feet of retail space and six single-family communities that include 3,000 residential lots purchased or under contract. Crosland manages nine apartment communities in the Triangle area including Dobbins Hill, The Apartments at Meadowmont, Wakefield Glen, The Apartments at Oberlin Court, Regency Place, Litchford Park, North Forest, Weston Lakeside and Southpoint Village. For more, visit www.croslandraleigh.com.