Hundreds Of New Homes Head To Greensboro Planning Commission

Brought to you by the Rhino Times Greensboro city officials have spent the past year and a half calling for a massive increase in housing construction, and, judging from the agenda for the next meeting of the Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission, developers are stepping up to answer that call. The commission will consider requests on Monday, July 20, that could clear the way for at least 430 new homes across three large developments – along with two additional residential projects for which the agenda doesn’t specify the maximum number of homes. If approved, the rezonings would clear the way for the projects to move forward, although zoning approval doesn’t guarantee every proposed home will ultimately be built. The five residential cases are spread across different parts of Greensboro, but much of the activity is taking place on or near the city’s eastern edge, where annexations are gradually bringing former Guilford County agricultural land into the city. The largest request calls for up to 200 dwelling units on 13.25 acres at 6001 Burlington Road, north of Burlington Road and east of Knox Road. That property is currently zoned Conditional District-Residential Multifamily-18. The applicant is asking the city to rezone it to a Planned Unit Development, with conditions limiting the property to residential uses and no more than 200 units. A second major project would allow up to 175 homes on 35.5 acres at 3663 Lewiston Road and 4931 and 4937 Hackamore Road, west of Jessup Grove Road and south of Hackamore Road. That proposal, submitted by Bradford J. Deaton of Crosspointe Homes on behalf of property owner Carol Shelton Brewer, would include no more than 120 townhomes. The developer is seeking annexation of part of the property along with Planned Unit Development zoning for the entire site. The Hackamore Road proposal is listed as old business because it was carried over from an earlier meeting. Another annexation and rezoning request would allow up to 55 homes on 21.45 acres at 1340 Village Road, west of Village Road and north of McConnell Road. That proposal would allow a mix of detached houses, zero-lot-line houses, duplexes, traditional houses, townhouses and twin homes. Nick Blackwood filed the request for Zachary Tran of Gardenia GSO LLC. Those three projects alone account for up to 430 new homes. The commission will also consider annexing and rezoning 5.62 acres at 5503 Burlington Road, north of Burlington Road and east of Mount Hope Church Road, from Guilford County agricultural zoning to city multifamily zoning. The requested RM-8 zoning would permit up to eight homes per acre under the zoning district’s general density limit, although the actual number would depend on the eventual site plan and other development requirements. The agenda doesn’t include a proposed unit cap. A much smaller rezoning request at 210 Leftwich Street would change a 0.16-acre property from single-family zoning to multifamily zoning allowing up to 26 units per acre. The owners have agreed to conditions requiring the existing principal dwelling to remain and limiting the property to residential use. The request may be intended to permit the existing house to accommodate additional housing rather than replace it with a conventional apartment building. Taken together, the cases offer a snapshot of the housing construction Greensboro and Guilford County leaders say the area urgently needs. That need was becoming apparent even before JetZero announced in June of 2025 that it would build its first aircraft manufacturing and final assembly facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport. JetZero broke ground in June on a planned 8-million-square-foot manufacturing campus on more than 600 acres. The company projects that the operation will create 14,500 jobs over the next decade. Boom Supersonic is also establishing its Overture Superfactory at PTI, while Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina in nearby Liberty is building a workforce expected to exceed 5,000 employees. Those projects don’t mean every worker will live in Greensboro or Guilford County. The Guilford County commissioners have been taking action to keep as many new residents in the county as possible – because they want that property tax money. Regardless, the new employees, their families and workers attracted by suppliers and other related businesses are expected to put additional pressure on a housing market that’s already tight. In February 2025, Greensboro City Manager Trey Davis launched the city’s “Road to 10,000” initiative, with a goal of adding 10,000 housing units in Greensboro by the end of 2030. At that time, city leaders described the need for additional housing as urgent and said the plan was intended to provide housing across income levels, attract workforce talent and strengthen neighborhoods. Davis noted at the time that Greensboro was already seeing substantial residential development. “The city is working to address the housing shortage, most recently dedicating $11 million for housing and supportive services for the unhoused,” Davis said when the initiative was announced. “Additionally, 3,313 residential building permits were issued in Greensboro last year.” The Road to 10,000 initiative called for the creation of a working group of city employees, developers and other stakeholders to identify available property, examine barriers to construction and recommend ways the city could better support housing development. The City Council also changed Greensboro’s Planned Unit Development regulations in February 2025 in an attempt to provide developers with greater flexibility, particularly on sites where topography or other conditions make conventional development difficult. “The city is willing to think outside of the box and live up to our priority of being the easiest place to do business,” Davis said at the time. Several of the projects on Monday’s agenda are seeking Planned Unit Development zoning, including the 175-home Hackamore Road proposal and the 200-home Burlington Road project. The city has also been putting substantial public money behind affordable housing. In April, the City Council approved more than $8.1 million in federal and city bond funding for six affordable multifamily housing projects. Four of the projects would create a combined 338 new apartments: 75 units at Ellington Place, 84 at Graceview Apartments, 59 at Phillips Avenue Apartments and 120 at Southgate Market Apartments. The other two projects would rehabilitate 56 supportive housing units at Partnership Village and 24 units at Richardson Village II. Those projects still need additional financing and must meet other conditions before construction can begin. Several are relying on the highly competitive federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, and construction isn’t expected to begin before fall 2027. While Greensboro has been pursuing its Road to 10,000 goal, Guilford County officials have been attempting to get local governments, builders and planners working together on a broader regional response. In August 2025, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston called a meeting in the Old Guilford County Court House that included builders, county planners, other county employees and Vice Chair Carlvena Foster. Alston said one estimate presented during that meeting was that Guilford County could need 97,000 additional housing units in the coming years to meet projected demand. He acknowledged that the number was enormous and questioned whether it was achievable, but said the meeting made the scope of the challenge clear. “Everybody has to be on the same page,” Alston said. Alston said the local governments need to work with builders to reduce unnecessary delays in permitting and inspections without weakening safety or construction standards. He said builders sometimes wait until the end of a lengthy review process to learn about issues that were discovered much earlier. Reporting those problems immediately could allow developers to correct them while the remaining reviews continue. Alston said the permitting process could take about nine months in some cases and that better coordination could remove months from that timeline. Former Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan also said in 2025 that, given the projected growth in the region, even the city’s goal of 10,000 additional homes might not be enough. The projects on Monday’s Planning and Zoning Commission agenda won’t solve the shortage. Zoning approval also doesn’t guarantee that every proposed home will be built – and large projects can take years to move from rezoning to construction. However, the agenda shows that developers are responding to the demand. The Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 20, in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber at 300 W. Washington St. The post Hundreds Of New Homes Head To Greensboro Planning Commission appeared first on The Rhino Times of Greensboro .