The Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan will redevelop distressed public and assisted housing, strengthen opportunities for residents, and build on the history and character of the broader Murchison Road corridor.
Why Murchison?
The City of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority (FMHA) have applied for a $26M HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant, working alongside a number of local partners to bring significant resources to the community. The Transformation Plan produces a coordinated framework for housing redevelopment, resident services, and neighborhood investment.
Murchison is one of the City of Fayetteville's most historic and culturally significant neighborhoods. The neighborhood includes assets such as long-standing schools and community institutions, a major university, and public parks and recreation centers. The corridor is well-positioned for reinvestment, leveraging the redevelopment of aging public housing and neighborhood stability and economic activity to improve quality of place.
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative
The HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CN) takes a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. The program supports the revitalization of distressed public housing while promoting and leveraging investments that improve the quality of life for neighborhood residents.
HOUSING
Energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long term
PEOPLE
Positive outcomes for residents’ education, health and recreation, safety, employment, and mobility
NEIGHBORHOOD
Well-functioning services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs
How We Got Here
This effort grew out of the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant, awarded to the City of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority in 2020. The City and FMHA engaged residents and partners through charrettes, community meetings, and multiple rounds of household assessments to shape the overall vision for the Plan.
Utilizing the completed Plan, the Murchison Choice Team submitted a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant application in 2024, . Although the application was not selected, the Team remained actively engaged in the process. In preparation for a subsequent application in 2026, the Team carefully reviewed HUD feedback from the initial submission and continued to refine its strategies and overall Plan. As a result, the 2026 submission reflects recent successes, strengthened partnerships and updated implementation structures.
“Our vision for the Murchison Neighborhood includes connecting local residents to improved amenities and services, and building upon the community’s unique history and culture to make a positive future possible for all.”
— Murchison Townhouses Resident
HOUSING PLAN
The Housing Plan will create mixed-income communities with market rate amenities that provides housing choice. The Plan focuses on replacing outdated public housing with a new mixed-income development that supports affordability, right to return, and compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. Replacement units will be thoughtfully dispersed throughout the development rather than isolated, to reduce poverty concentration and promote true economic diversity. The Plan will be implemented in three phases across two sites within the Murchison Neighborhood.
The Plan proposes 323 mixed-income apartments:
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Conceptual Site Plan: Murchison Townhouses
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View of Murchison Townhouses - New Townhouses
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View of Murchison Townhouses - Pedestrian Streetscape
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Conceptual Site Plan: Elliott Properties
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View of Elliott Properties - Legacy Circle
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View of Elliott Properties - Building Variety
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Elevations
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Elevations
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1 Bedroom Floorplan Options
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2 Bedroom Floorplan Options
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3 Bedroom Floorplan Options
PEOPLE PLAN
The People Plan focuses on practical support for 143 public housing residents currently living at Murchison Townhouses, including case management, education, workforce pathways, and services that improve stability and long-term opportunity. The strategies outlined in the Plan address desired outcomes for career pathways, education, and support for elderly persons and individuals with disabilities in maintaining independence.
GOALS
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Support upward mobility by creating connections to workforce and industry pipeline opportunities
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Increase employment rates by providing one-on-one assistance that helps residents address employment barriers and achieve their employment goals
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Promote self-sufficiency by developing Family Development Plans (FDP) that outline housing, employment, education, and health goals supported through personalized, intensive coaching and service coordination
NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
The Neighborhood Plan focuses on visible physical improvements, corridor reinvestment, public spaces, housing stabilization, and stronger neighborhood assets. Three Critical Community Improvements have been identified to help support the community’s vision for revitalization.
Critical Community Improvements
Critical Community Improvements (CCIs) identified in the Plan are grounded in the economics of the existing environment and positioned to capitalize on planned investments so that the community’s vision can be realized within the next 8 years. The CCI objectives include expanding economic opportunity, enhancing community assets and amenities, building community confidence, and improving safety.
Early Action Projects
During the Murchison Choice Planning process, four Early Action projects were completed in order to enhance and accelerate the Plan. These physical improvements and unique tools supported the project through engaging the community, building capacity, and fostering social cohesion.
You, Me and Us Holistic Community Garden- YMUS Community garden that better connects MTH and EP residents to fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood.
Little Free Libraries- Installation of 19 Free Little Libraries tackle the lack of equitable access to books in the neighborhood.
Digital Equity Initiative- Installation of free wi-fi services for MTH residents along with free desktops computers to 19 households in partnership with Kramden Institute.
Murchison Coloring Book- Coloring book created to honor the “everyday heroes” of the Murchison community and highlighting some of the important places within the neighborhood.
Partners
The Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan is actionable through the coordinated implementation of Housing, People, and Neighborhood projects. The Plan outlines a management structure led by the City of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority (FMHA), in collaboration with Housing, People and Neighborhood Leads.
The City of Fayetteville provides high quality and sustainable public services for communities to thrive and businesses to grow. The City’s vision is to become an attractive, culturally diverse, and inclusive city that is safe, prosperous, innovative, and unified.
FMHA promotes self-sufficiency, personal growth, and neighborhood revitalization by maximizing resources and maintaining the fiscal veracity of this agency. FMHA believes that housing is a fundamental right and the substance for a successful life.
Housing Lead
Pennrose will bring its depth and breadth of experience to Fayetteville, codeveloping the Housing Plan with FMHA and working with the city and USI to combine local and national expertise to Murchison Townhouses, to create mixed-income communities, and transform the Murchison CN.
People Lead
USI will serve as the People Implementation Lead, providing case management and service coordination in partnership with over 20 local and regional partners.
Neighborhood Lead
ECD will develop the Neighborhood Plan and CCIs, focusing on strategically located, highly visible projects to stimulate the Murchison CN economy and support the broader Murchison Transformation Plan’s goals of increasing employment and income.
Partners involved in the Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan:
Additional public and private partners, such as Cumberland County Schools, Fayetteville State University, and Community Ambassadors make up the broader implementation framework. These partnerships are essential to neighborhood revitalization when housing, services, schools, parks, economic development, and community engagement are moving in the same direction.
Track Progress
Materials
What The Grant Would Deliver
If awarded, the Implementation Grant would allow the City and FMHA to move forward with redeveloping Murchison Townhouses, with additional funding for supportive services and critical community improvements that help restore confidence in the neighborhood. This section addresses frequently asked questions about the Implementation Grant and next steps.
What is the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative?
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The HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) employs a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. The program helps communities by revitalizing distressed public (and/or assisted) housing while investing and leveraging investments in:
Well-functioning services and public assets
High quality public schools/education programs
High quality early learning programs/services
Public transportation and mobility
Improved access to jobs
The CNI will ensure that current residents will be able to benefit from this transformation by preserving affordable housing or providing residents with the choice to move into affordable and accessible housing in another existing neighborhood of opportunity.
The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is focused on three core goals:
Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long term.
People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the target developments and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes related to residents’ education, health and recreation, safety, employment, and mobility; and
Neighborhood: Transform distressed neighborhoods into viable, mixed-income neighborhoods with access to well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs.
What is the CNI Implementation Grant?
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Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants support the implementation of a comprehensive plan that focuses on the revitalization of a severely distressed public housing and/or HUD-assisted housing project, while also improving the surrounding neighborhood and providing supportive services to improve quality of life outcomes for residents of the target housing project.
The Murchison CNI Team submitted an Implementation Grant application in March 2026. As the application is reviewed, the CN Team will continue to engage residents, stakeholders and partners to continue to move the Plan forward. All updates will be posted online so that residents can follow along and stay informed as the application moves forward.
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What happens now?
Where does the Murchison Road Corridor fit in?
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The Murchison neighborhood was selected for a Planning Grant because of its tremendous opportunities and strategic location less than a mile from downtown Fayetteville, on the direct route to Fort Bragg. The neighborhood is the historic center of African-American commerce in the City and is anchored by Fayetteville State University, an HBCU which offers over 60 programs of study. The community has been designated as a Federal Opportunity Zone as well as a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area.
The City and FMHA worked with Murchison Townhouse residents, public and private agencies, community and philanthropic organizations, neighborhood residents and other identified individuals and stakeholders that gathered and leveraged resources to support the strategic and financial sustainability of the Plan. Today this Transformation Plan has become the guiding document for the revitalization of the public housing units while simultaneously directing positive transformation of the surrounding neighborhood.
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What do we hope to achieve with the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant?
This grant will be used to carry out the viable and actionable strategies outlined in the Transformation Plan for the Murchison community. The Murchison CN Team has aligned strategic initiatives with targeted public and private investments. Planned new mixed-income rental and for-sale housing will attract new restaurants, stores, and offices which will draw additional investment, fostering economic growth, job creation, income and asset building, and upward mobility for residents.
How will we continue to work with the community?
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Extensive resident engagement was a crucial element of the planning process. Residents participated in envisioning and designing a Plan that now serves as the guiding tool for implementing the necessary investments and physical changes to revitalize the area. From the completion of the Transformation Plan to the submission of the CNI grant, the Team met with residents and partners to further refine the Plan and revise People, Housing, and Neighborhood strategies. As this process moves forward, the CN Team will continue to collaborate with residents, stakeholders, and partners, engaging them through quarterly meetings, design workshops, ambassador program, and CNI taskforce.
Does the implementation process include construction of new housing?
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Construction of housing, retail, and other larger improvements will occur in phases upon grant award. The Plan outlines three phases of housing construction among two sites in the Murchison Choice neighborhood. Phase I and II will occur off-site on the Elliott Properties site and include 104 units. Phase III will occur on the Murchison Townhomes site and include 115 units.
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