Rachel Collins, president and CEO of the Business High Point Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is focusing on what issues need to be addressed in the city, with one of the most important issues being housing.
Collins moderated a panel about how to advance supply and affordability of housing in the city at Business High Point’s annual State of the City luncheon Wednesday.
This year, the High Point Community Foundation activated the Housing Impact Fund, a partnership with Self-Help Ventures Fund that will provide low-interest loans to developers building affordable, multi-family rental housing.
The Community Foundation is aiming to raise $40 million for the fund, said Joe Blosser, the CEO of the Earl and Kathryn Congdon Family Foundation. Blosser said he is working with the Community Foundation to raise the funds.
The City of High Point is investing $2 million in the program and High Point University donated $500,000 in February.
The fund’s goal is to build more than 1,000 units for people who earn 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, particularly essential workers such as firefighters, teachers and police officers.
Blosser said of people who make 30% to 50% of the area median income, 90% have to spend more than a third of their monthly income on housing, which makes it difficult to afford the rest of one’s living expenses.
“We’re really trying to bring that number down so that our residents can afford to live and thrive,” he said.
High Point City Manager Tasha Logan Ford said High Point typically grows in population by 1% a year. However, the recent economic development announcements in High Point, Guilford County and the region, she said the city is expected to grow at a slightly faster rate through 2050 — which means High Point needs to have a strategy for housing growth as well.
Logan Ford said as part of the city’s 2045 comprehensive plan, it is focusing on investing in areas that already have infrastructure, such as water, sewer, road networks , as well schools and retail such as grocery stores. The city is in the process of modifying its Unified Development Ordinance, and Logan Ford said that will allow the city to think through how it can activate those neighborhood centers.
“We’re looking at how do we change regulations, how do we make sure that we have higher density developments that are compatible with those areas,” she said.
High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson also said there are many economic recent development wins in the city to celebrate, including:
Superior Glove — over $5 million investment and over 100 new jobs;
C&C Industries — an $8 million investment, 108 new jobs;
Maola Milk — $5 million investment, 9 new jobs;
Cascade Die Casting — $8.1 million investment, 35 new jobs;
Opsun Systems — $17 million investment, 32 new jobs
Jefferson said in order to continue to attract businesses, the city must work with its partners.
One of those partners is Congdon Yards, which is planning to open a SpringHill Suites by Marriott in downtown High Point this September. Construction on the $23 million, 128-room hotel began in the fall of 2023.
Jefferson said another business coming soon to downtown High Point is Smitty and Pearl’s, a seafood-focused restaurant and oyster bar that will also have an entertainment complex and rooftop bar. The restaurant is slated to open in 2026.
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By Elizabeth ‘Lilly’ Egan – Reporter, Triad Business Journal