GREENVILLE, S.C. — Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County broke ground Oct. 15 on Baxter-Norris Villas, a seven-unit townhome community at 509 Jenkins St. in the city’s historic Sterling neighborhood, according to the Greenville Journal. It is the nonprofit’s first townhome development.
The project will offer two- and three-bedroom townhomes for families earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income, the Journal reported. Habitat is raising $1.7 million for the development. Infrastructure work is expected to take the next several months, with vertical construction slated to begin in April 2027, and the organization hopes to move the first families in roughly a year from now. Before construction, the site needs grading, water and sewer connections, sidewalks, lighting and green space, according to Greenville Business Magazine.
The land came through a public-private arrangement years in the making. In 2021 the city of Greenville removed two vacant, dilapidated houses from the property and sought proposals for affordable housing there, and Habitat won the project that summer, Greenville Business Magazine reported. Working with Arcisan Design, the nonprofit weighed duplexes, townhomes and other layouts for the two long, narrow lots. After about a year of design work and approval from the city’s Urban Design Review Board, the city deeded the land to Habitat in 2022. Habitat President and CEO LaTonya Phillips told the Journal that “getting here has been a long road.”
The Sterling Neighborhood Association chose the name to honor Peggy Baxter, Habitat Greenville’s director emeritus, and Xanthene Norris, a longtime Greenville County Council member. Both grew up in Sterling and graduated from Sterling High School, according to both publications.
The project reflects the pressure rising prices put on entry-level buyers in Greenville. Phillips said in Greenville Business Magazine’s account that as prices climb, many residents believe homeownership is out of reach. Habitat’s model addresses that by pairing affordable mortgages with sweat-equity hours and homebuyer education, which families must complete before buying. The shift to attached townhomes on infill lots also shows how affordable-housing builders are squeezing more units out of scarce, irregular parcels close to downtown, where land costs make detached single-family homes harder to pencil. Habitat recently completed its first duplex project as part of its 40th anniversary, the Journal noted.
For developers and investors, the deal is another example of the city using its own land to seed for-sale affordable housing rather than relying solely on rental subsidies. Seven homes will not move the needle on Greenville’s overall supply, but the approach — city-cleared sites, design review and nonprofit builders — offers a template for other small infill parcels in close-in neighborhoods facing redevelopment pressure. For buyers in the target income range, the project adds a rare ownership option in a neighborhood minutes from downtown.
Leave a Reply