RALEIGH, N.C. – Hundreds of apartments, some restaurants and retail space are currently being built near Dorothea Dix Park. 

Three and a half acres of land on Lake Wheeler Road, across from the park, are now filled with red dirt and construction equipment. 

In Summer 2025, it will be home to a new $700 million development by SLI Capital called “The Weld.”

With 675 apartments, shops, restaurants and greenspace, it will sit next to yet another development called “Park City South.”

Kane Realty will build over 300 apartments with additional retail space.

The two projects will completely change the area around Dix Park.

“We’re growing so fast and there’s been just a huge increase in development and folks moving in,” said Jacquie Ayala, the Director of Advocacy for Habitat for Humanity of Wake County. 

She and other affordable housing advocates are concerned.

Dix Park is surrounded by neighborhoods, like Caraleigh and Fuller Heights, that Ayala believes may be at risk. 

“We know that those communities are some of the last naturally occurring affordable housing,” she explained. 

The Dix Edge Area Study, conducted by research groups and Raleigh city leaders, noted the medium annual income in those communities is about $27,000 less than in the rest of the city. 

“There’s always a threat that folks will have to leave because they can’t afford either the rent prices that go up or because there is a huge demand for housing,” said Ayala. 

While she believes change and progress is positive, she hopes city leaders will continue to make affordable housing a top priority. 

“What’s really important is that the city invests today in affordable housing, and that looks like everything from the city acquiring land to keep it affordable for or to keep it for future affordable housing to the city,” said Ayala. “There’s a whole set of tools that we can use to help people stay in their homes.”