Greenville approves $1 million land purchase near Unity Park

While affordable housing and its local impacts remain a divisive topic for some, the Greenville City Council has recently purchased land next to Unity Park to expand the area’s workforce housing offerings.

Efforts to develop affordable housing alongside the city’s newest public park have been ongoing since early last year, with groundbreaking on the first housing taking place in May of 2023. Earlier this year, Greenville County also approved incentives for the housing development.

This week, Greenville City Council approved the use of $1 million in tourism tax revenue after a change in state law last year to purchase the land, which currently houses the Holy Temple Church, for the workforce housing section of the overall housing development.

The workforce housing is planned to feature a 52-unit apartment building and will primarily be targeted for hospitality workers, teachers, police, firefighters and health care personnel.

After this purchase is finalized, the city will have purchased nearly an acre of land connected in a rectangular block of space near Unity Park for these affordable housing developments.

You can listen to more on the affordable housing developments in the area from our Focus on the Upstate interview with the Greenville Housing Fund here.