Apartments for Asheville, Buncombe teachers to open in 2017

ASHEVILLE - The opening date for a new apartment complex to house Asheville and Buncombe teachers has been pushed back to 2017.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been delayed,” said Bill Murdock, executive director of Eblen Charities. “It took a little longer than we thought.”

The 24-unit project is a partnership between Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools, Eblen’s Center for Social Enterprise, Buncombe County and the State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation.

The idea is to provide a more affordable place for new teachers moving to the Asheville area. School officials have said it can be tough for new teachers to find housing they can afford because of Asheville's housing costs.

Each apartment will have two bedrooms and two baths.

Officials announced the $2.5 million project last summer, with a goal of opening in time for the start of the 2016-17 school year.

“It was a very short window,” Murdock said.

The current timeline calls for officials to have a contractor selected and “everything ready to go” in July and to break ground on the project in October. It should open in late spring or early summer of 2017.

“We wanted to make sure we had time to do it right and not rush," Murdock said.

Murdock said organizers hope to take advantage of community involvement as part of the project.

“I think it will be a much stronger local project by doing this because we have so many great folks who are already working with us,” he said.

The new complex will be named for UNC basketball coach Roy Williams, his wife Wanda Williams and two former county teachers, Roy Eugene “Buddy” Baldwin and Rosa Lee Case Baldwin.

Teacher job offer comes with perk � a place to live