Open for Business Agenda | Sanford, North Carolina

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COMMUNITY PRIDE E A ST SA N FOR D R E DE V E LOPM E N T PROGR A M When Sanford and Lee County government officials met on August 16, 2019, more than 50 percent of properties in an area deemed “East Sanford” were labeled as “distressed” and valued at $20 per square foot or less. The average age of a home was 21 years older than the rest of Sanford, and the median home value was $57,000 less than the average city home. But the population of that neighborhood was growing three times the rate of the rest of Sanford, and there was a much higher demand for housing than the available supply.

“We determined through a study that people wanted to stay there,” said Mann, “and because it ran right up into our new downtown, we wanted to help turn it into a place where young people would want to rent or own.” Sanford began a 20-year process designed to reimagine a historic and distressed area of the city into a whole new place. The city, in conjunction with the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, successfully applied to make the census tract, including East Sanford, a federallyrecognized Opportunity Zone, meaning investors who wish to reinvest unrealized capital gains in the area will avoid standard capital gains tax obligations.

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Open for Business Agenda | Sanford, North Carolina by City of Sanford NC - Issuu