Luxury apartments offer affordable housing units

CHARLOTTE — Trella Uptown, a new development in Charlotte, is working to chip away at the city’s affordable housing crisis.

The inclusive apartment complex sits on North Tryon Street in Uptown and is looking for families and people to call it home.

This first-of-its kind apartment community is officially open in and taking applications for tenants.

“We’ve seen a lot of development in Charlotte that’s come up, right?” said Fulton Meachem, president and CEO of Inlivian. “And it’s pretty much high-end luxury. And the thought is, is that we create this system of kind of the haves and have-nots. And I think in a lot of cases, it puts us in a situation where we don’t even know one another.”

Trella Uptown offers affordable housing units

The mixed-income development is a partnership between Inlivian, which is Charlotte’s housing authority, and real estate developer Urban Atlantic.

Vicki Davis with Urban Atlantic and Meacham gave Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis a tour.

The two-acre Inlivian property had been sitting empty for about 10 years.

Trella Uptown has all the bells and whistles that make it another luxury development, which includes a pool, pickleball courts, fitness center, playground, podcast studio, co-working space and more.

However, 70% of the units will be available at market rate and 30% will be affordable units with income requirements.

“You’re talking about teachers,” Meachem said. “You’re talking about firemen. You’re talking about a custodian.”

All the units look the same.

“There’s no such thing as a poor door or poor floor,” Meachem said. “In a lot of different areas, you will have a building, this is set aside for certain families. We don’t think that dignity comes with a separate entrance.”

“There are better proven measured, better health outcomes for children, better employment outcomes for children in families, who live in mixed-income communities,” Davis said. “Better educational outcomes and better safety outcomes.”

“I think for us, is really creating community,” Meachem said. “What community really should be is everybody really here together, living in a quality environment, doing the things that we all want to do.”

There are one-, two- and three-bedroom units available.

Many of the common spaces, the yoga studio, coffee bar, and makerspace are also designed to support those starting small businesses.

There are more developments like this to come in Charlotte.

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