Wake County Commissioners gave final approval Monday for a controversial project to turn a Raleigh apartment complex into affordable housing.

Commissioners voted 6 to 1 in favor of the plan by CASA, a Raleigh non-profit developer, to purchase the Georges Mews Apartments off Glenwood Avenue and turn them into housing for people with low incomes or disabilities.

"I think this is a very beautiful project," said Commissioner Harold Webb.

The vote had been delayed from last month when commissioners tabled a decision to give the City of Raleigh, which had already approved the plan, to consider recent criticism of the proposal and hold a public hearing.

City Council instead voted the next day to support the plan a second time.

Wake Commissioners mostly had favorable views of the project, especially after CASA promised that all existing tenants would be given a one-year extension on their leases if they chose to do so.

Any current tenants earning more than the salary cap of $31,000 a year would have had to move at the end of their current leases, but commissioners said this extension would give them more time to look for other housing.

Commissioner Paul Coble was the sole vote against the project, questioning whether this project was the best use of the county's money.

Coble also criticized the purchase because he said it does not build any additional affordable housing units for the area; instead it converts existing units.

"So we're not really adding to the inventory, and if there's anything we need to be doing now is adding to the inventory," he said.

Neighbors in the historic Glenwood Brooklyn neighborhood have voiced concerns the plan would bring crime to the area and ultimately lead to lower property values.

CASA CEO Debra King has said those concerns are unfounded and CASA has had very few problems with its existing projects already in Wake County.

The purchase of the 26 units at Georges Mews would be CASA's largest project.

King said with Monday's approval, CASA could officially purchase the complex by the end of the month.