Cottages of Idlewild in downtown Raleigh
Thank you for a wonderful groundbreaking!
This project will have a tremendous impact on the Idlewild community by providing an anchor of affordability in a rapidly gentrifying community. The journey to get here has been long and it would not be possible without all of your support. As long as the journey has been, we know that the project will be equally impactful in creating 18 permanently affordable homes in the historic community of Idlewild.
18 Affordable Cottages Coming to Downtown Raleigh
The Cottages of Idlewild offers a range of affordable homeownership and rental opportunities for individuals and families at 30-80% AMI. This project was made possible through a unique public-private partnership that was formed to maximize success and ensure that community interests are prioritized and protected beyond what any single organization could do alone.
Leading partners include the Raleigh Area Land Trust, Raleigh Raised Development, and Haven Design|Build.
History of Idlewild
Brief excerpt from The Color of Law that describes how school board decisions in Raleigh in the 1920's were one of the many tools used to intentionally segregate communities:
“Karen Benjamin, a historian at St. Xavier College in Chicago, has uncovered records that reveal how school placement decisions helped force the segregation of Raleigh.
In Raleigh in the early 20th century, neighborhoods of black and white concentration were scattered across the city. They included two relatively prosperous African American neighborhoods, Idlewild and College Park, on what was then the city’s northeast side.
These middle-class communities of owner-occupied single-family homes no longer exist because in the 1920s the school board decided to transfer all schools for black students to the far southeastern section of the city, where planners hoped to isolate Raleigh’s African Americans.”
The Cottages of Idlewild will invest in permanent affordability in the historically African American community of Idlewild and seeks to honor the legacy of the neighborhood through partnership and prominent features.
The site on Lane Street and Idlewild Avenue is located in the center of the Idlewild neighborhood, one of the first areas for African American homeownership in the City of Raleigh. The Raleigh Land and Improvement Company subdivided Idlewild into smaller plots, and the neighborhood grew to become a stronghold in the early twentieth century.
Cottages of Idlewild Partners
New Art Partnership alert!
Special thanks to The Jandy Ammons Foundation $20,000 grant to support the future community led ART installations at the Cottages of Idlewild. RALT and Artspace are partnering on community engagement and art, bringing the community in to design the art installations at the future Cottages of Idlewild affordable housing development. The Jandy Ammons Foundation grant will support community engagement, a neighborhood arts committee and more-building ways for the entire community to shape our future development.
