Forest Point Place Open: Housing Supports Older Adults Experiencing Homelessness

With renovations complete, a Mecklenburg County hotel purchase is now serving as permanent, affordable housing for adults who are 55 or older, are experiencing homelessness, and have other health conditions.

About 100 people attended the opening ceremony of Forest Point Place in south Charlotte on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

Mecklenburg County purchased the former hotel in December 2022 for nearly $15 million from COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and began renovation work. The County invested an additional $1 million in fiscal year 2025, with an annualized budget of $2 million proposed for fiscal year 2026. The express purpose of the purchase was to refurbish the hotel to provide housing and support to older adults who are experiencing homelessness. Tenants began moving in by July 2023. Renovations and expansion have now doubled the original capacity of Forest Point Place to 90+ residents. The project has been in the making since the beginning of the pandemic when Mecklenburg County operated a hotel for older adults living unsheltered who were at risk of morbidity if contracting COVID.

Forest Point Place is a partnership between Mecklenburg County Community Support Services/Housing Innovation and Stabilization Services division and Roof Above. Roof Above serves as the property manager and provides supportive services to tenants such as case management, nursing care oversight, connections to substance use interventions, job training, life skills and more.

The opening event included tours of the facility and remarks by partnership leaders.

“More than one in four homeless residents in our community is an adult over the age of 55,” says Dena R. Diorio, Mecklenburg County manager. “This will be an affordable housing option for individuals, couples and parents with adult children who are 55 years and older experiencing homelessness and who have other vulnerabilities. This County commitment allows these residents the opportunity to age in place.”

“We celebrate not just the opening of Forest Point Place, but the promise that lives and communities can be transformed through partnership,” said Liz Clasen-Kelly, Roof Above’s chief executive officer.

Mecklenburg County has experienced an increase in homeless older adults with health conditions. More than 500 individuals of the nearly 3,000 currently in Mecklenburg County’s homeless system meet this eligibility. Supportive housing is a platform for people who need safe, decent, and affordable housing with wraparound supports with proven results of housing stability and better health outcomes. 

The increase in older adults experiencing homelessness coincides with an increased demand in affordable senior housing. Forest Point Place aligns with the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners’ budget priority of providing services for seniors.

To learn more about the state of housing and homelessness in the community, visit MecklenburgHousingData.org.