Bluewater Horizons

Affordable Housing

Nearly one third of South Carolinians are cost burdened by their homes, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on housing costs. Low to moderate-income residents in the coastal region of the state are particularly vulnerable to the shortage of affordable housing. Often the only options for low-income renters are homes in desperate need of upgrading, much like the Rebecca Street properties Bluewater Horizons sought to purchase.

"If a place is [poorly maintained], the people will just say, 'Let's get out of here and move somewhere else.' I want it to be a place they call home," Bluewater Horizons owner Shawn Sprinkel told Charleston's Post & Courier in May. Aware of their shared mission to increase the availability of safe, affordable housing options, Bluewater Horizons approached SCCLF to finance the $485,000 purchase and upgrade of the Rebecca Street properties. This is an extension of an existing partnership, as Bluewater Horizons has financed two previous
affordable housing projects with SCCLF.

The Rebecca Street development will create 16 newly renovated units for low to moderate-income families to call home, and the property's renovation will help breathe new life into its surrounding neighborhood.

"My goal is to buy properties that are going to improve the street they are on in an area where the overall neighborhood has been a little neglected," Sprinkel said. "I really believe in
neighborhood stabilization for our society overall."

Quotes originally appeared in the Post & Courier's May feature on Bluewater Horizons' Delta Street apartments.