Shangri-La Development

“Sold on a Promise” is a special two-part investigative series jointly produced by WFDD, BPR News and CityView that explores how a California developer and its nonprofit partner promised and then later failed to house around 550 homeless people in North Carolina.

Across the state, representatives with California-based developer Shangri-La and its nonprofit partner, Step Up on Second, told municipal leaders how they would finance development projects aimed at housing the homeless. But like the promises of late-night ads, the glittery attraction has faded.

Greensboro officials are standing by their partnership with Step Up on Second, a nonprofit organization recently named in a $100 million lawsuit filed by the state of California. The company is involved in a project to convert a Greensboro motel into permanent supportive housing for people struggling with chronic homelessness.

This week the city of Asheville pulled the plug on a long-awaited project to convert a motel into housing for people experiencing homelessness. The move came after the partner organizations managing the project were named in a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Winston-Salem has been attached to a similar project with the same partners since 2022. And city leaders say that partnership stands, despite repeated delays.