Baxter-Norris Villas at 509 Jenkins St. will sell seven townhomes to working families. It is Habitat Greenville's first multifamily homeownership project.

Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County has broken ground on seven townhomes in the historic Sterling community. The Baxter-Norris Villas, at 509 Jenkins St., will be sold to local working families.

It is the nonprofit’s first multifamily homeownership project. Habitat Greenville has traditionally built single-family houses. The city announced the groundbreaking in a release on Thursday.

Who the villas are named for

The development honors two Greenville community leaders, Xanthene Sayles Norris and Peggy Baxter.

Norris, 93, recently finished a 25-year tenure on Greenville County Council, where she represented District 23. The city’s release describes her as:

  • a civil rights activist who helped organize lunch counter sit-ins
  • a former French teacher at Sterling High School, which was segregated at the time, and later at Greenville High School
  • an organizer of a college preparatory program run through Springfield Baptist Church

Baxter is the immediate past chair of Habitat Greenville’s board of directors. She is a retired vice president for community health and ambulatory services at Children’s Hospital Research and Medical Center of Oakland, and a deacon at Long Branch Baptist Church. City Council member Dorothy Dowe joined Baxter at the groundbreaking, the city said.

Habitat Greenville at 40

The groundbreaking comes as the organization marks four decades in Greenville County. Since it was founded in 1985, Habitat Greenville has, according to the city’s release:

  • built more than 435 homes
  • repaired more than 330 homes
  • served more than 1,200 families

The city said the townhome model is meant to find new ways to increase affordable homeownership in a fast-growing county. The release did not give a construction cost, a completion date or the prices the homes will sell for.

What it means for you

Habitat homes are sold, not rented, to families who qualify through the nonprofit’s own program. If you want to know whether your family could qualify for a home here or elsewhere in the county, contact Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County directly.

Affordable housing is also on the agenda downtown. The city wants views on a mixed-use plan with affordable housing on its Church Street land, at a drop-in meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22.

For more on Greenville’s neighborhoods, see our neighborhood guide. For the yearly cost of owning a home here, see our property tax guide.