Asheville Missing Middle Housing Initiative
Asheville, NC · 2023
Client: City of Asheville, Planning and Urban Design Department
Location: Asheville, NC
Year: 2023
CP Role: Sub-consultant to Opticos Design
Practice Area: Housing Policy
Team: Alex Steinberger, Principal-in-Charge; Sara Goldstein, Displacement Vulnerability Analysis; Lanier Hagerty, Analyst
The Challenge
Asheville faced a severe housing shortage, and its rules kept house-scale multi-unit buildings such as duplexes and cottage courts from being built. The City wanted more of these homes, especially for workers earning 80 to 120% of area median income, without displacing existing residents.
Our Approach
As a sub-consultant to Opticos Design, we led the analysis. Real estate pro formas tested what middle housing would cost to build and who could afford it. A displacement risk assessment mapped vulnerability, gentrification, and market change by census tract, and a strategy typology sorted neighborhoods by their readiness for middle housing against their displacement risk.
Outcome
The pro formas showed that detached houses in Asheville were affordable only to high earners, while middle housing types could be both feasible to build and attainable for the core workforce. The displacement toolkit let the team recommend anti-displacement measures, such as housing rehabilitation codes and tenant protections, for the City's Missing Middle Housing strategy.
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