Reno land trust embarks on housing development for priced-out families

The City Cottage in Reno is the first single-family home sold by the Community Housing Land Trust. The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada created the land trust in an effort to provide affordable homes to people earning less than Reno’s area median income.

The City Cottage in Reno is the first single-family home sold by the Community Housing Land Trust. The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada created the land trust in an effort to provide affordable homes to people earning less than Reno’s area median income. Courtesy Photo

By Kaleb Roedel

Friday, April 23, 2021

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It’s no big secret — the Biggest Little City has one of the smallest supplies of affordable homes in the U.S.

Case in point: Reno was named the 21st least affordable city among the 100 biggest metro areas in the country, according to RealtyHop’s April 2021 Housing Affordability Index, published March 29.

The real estate listing site concluded, based on a median price of $444,000 for Reno-Sparks, that a homeowner in the area would need to spend a whopping 41.20% of their annual income in order to own a home.

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada (CFNN) is working to help change that — even if just one home at a time.

Back in 2018, the Reno-based nonprofit created the Community Housing Land Trust (CHLT) in an effort to provide affordable homes to people earning less than Reno’s area median income, which is currently $79,600 for a family of four.

Before bringing single-family homes into its portfolio, the CHLT’s first project was the Village on Sage Street.

Built in 2019 on a four-acre property donated by the city of Reno, the community east of downtown near the corner of 4th and Sage streets consists of 216 single-occupancy dorm units for people earning less than 60% of the area median income. Rent is roughly $400 per month.

Two years later, the CHLT has sold its first home. Dubbed the “City Cottage,” the 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath residence sold to a local couple for $225,000 in January 2021.

It marked the first single-family home ever sold by a community land trust in the Silver State, said Michelle Duggan, executive assistant at the CFNN.

“As much affordable housing as possible is needed right now because we have such a shortage,” Duggan told the NNBW. “The unique thing about our community land trust is that it does offer the opportunity for ownership, and no other affordable housing projects really do that in the area.

“It gives families the opportunity to actually build equity and grow and build their financial position since they get to own a house.”

The City Cottage buyers, for example, will own the home and lease the land from the CHLT. To qualify for a home through the CHLT, buyers must earn less than 80% of the area median income while earning enough so their housing expenses total no more than 35% of their monthly income.

Chris Askin, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada. Courtesy Photo

 

If and when the owners of a home decide to sell, the property will be sold back to another income-qualified family, said Chris Askin, president and CEO of the CFNN.

“Yes, these families are going to build equity, but the beauty is that 10 years after they buy these homes, the house payment is exactly the same,” Askin said. “And because of the inflation we’ve seen and the increase in cost of homes, I think that’s absolutely a critical benefit for these families.”

Notably, the lot City Cottage sits on was donated as a charitable gift to the CHLT by Kyle and Katy Chandler-Isacksen.

Leaders of Be the Change Project, a neighborhood revival movement, the Chandler-Isacksens originally bought the land to develop a community garden and community center. When zoning restrictions ruled out the latter, they built the home to help those who are priced out of the Reno-Sparks housing market.

GOLDEN VALLEY PROJECT

And the land donations have not stopped there. In October 2020, the city of Reno once again donated property to the land trust — 2.5 acres of land in North Reno’s Golden Valley for 10 homes to be built and sold through the CHLT.

A rendering of a model for the 10 affordable homes planned for construction in North Reno’s Golden Valley through the Community Housing Land Trust. Courtesy Rendering

 

“This will be, to our knowledge, the first development that will go into a community land trust,” said Jeff Limpert, management analyst at the city of Reno.

The 1,400-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bath homes will be sold to buyers earning slightly less than 80% of the area median income. The prices of the homes are expected to be $100,000 less than comparable homes in the market, according to the land trust.

“We all know that we’re facing a housing crisis in the community, especially as it relates to affordable housing,” said Devon Reese, at-large Reno City Councilmember. “Folks who are first-time homebuyers and people from middle-income-based communities are basically being priced out of the market. As a result, it just traps a perpetual cycle of poverty. Homeownership allows people to create roots in a community and allows them to benefit from their long-term investment in themselves, so to speak.

“This is a great program because it allows us to grow a greater sense of community that allows for economic equality for all who participate. So, it’s a really special program, it’s one that we need to continue to fund and make robust investments in.”

Askin, who expects the project to break ground in late summer of this year, said the organization is working with the city on the permitting process, which he expects to conclude in August.

A look at the floor plan of the 1,400-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bath homes planned for development in North Reno through the Community Housing Land Trust. Courtesy Rendering

 

In the meantime, they are lining up contractors and subcontractors to do the grading and infrastructure work, and eventually build the homes. David Dahl, who has expertise working on affordable home projects, is the developer of the project.

Askin said getting 10 affordable homes built and sold through the CHLT might spur similar programs across the state. That’s what he hopes, at least.

“If we get these 10 homes done and they’re all occupied, and we start working on other homes with other developers, we don’t think it’s going to be long before some group in Las Vegas says, ‘let’s do this here,’” he said. “Once you start doing that year after year and decade after decade, you have a huge impact. But you’ve got to start somewhere.”

With that in mind, Askin also hopes that the CHLT builds enough momentum to stand on its own as an independent operation. He said it would likely have to grow to 100-150 homes before then.

“The goal of the Community Foundation was never to operate a land trust,” Askin explained. “The goal of the Community Foundation is to bring critical resources to Northern Nevada that don’t exist here. And because they don’t exist here, we have some issues in terms of our community: People who are hard-working but lower income trying to lift themselves up and lift up their kids and grandkids up into a better quality of life.

“So, this is just one of many types of strategies that we can employ here at the foundation to try and make that happen.”

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