Daily Sitka Sentinel

Groundbreaking Friday for Affordable House

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    One down, six to go – and maybe more.
    The Sitka Community Land Trust will celebrate the groundbreaking for its first house on the old city shops property in a ceremony 10 a.m. Friday.
    “We’re finally getting going,” said Randy Hughey, SCLT co-executive director. “We’re still here, we’re still at it and we’re going to build these houses.”
    The house hasn’t been built yet, but it will mark the first in the development the Land Trust calls Halibut Point Cottages.
    The city sold the land to the nonprofit organization for $1 in 2015, but it’s taken the last few years to overcome hurdles such as funding and remediating the soil contaminated from years the land was site of a diesel generating plant and the city garage.
    Voters in 2006 approved a proposition to dedicate the property, which is located at 1306, 1410 and 1414 Halibut Point Road, for affordable housing.
    CLT board members and staff had hoped it would be up and running sooner, but needed more time to fundraise in order to remediate the soil, develop the property and install utilities. The trust sold one lot to a neighboring land owner and other funds came from a Rasmuson Foundation grant.
    “It took two and a half years to get that taken care of and to have a clean site,” Hughey said. “Finally we’re back to what we started out to do: we’re looking to help people from low to moderate income, who are struggling to buy a house. ... It’s been a great deal more difficult than I thought.”
    The subdivision plat for the neighborhood the SCLT has laid out for 1306 HPR provides for seven affordable homes. Plans call for more to be built on the adjacent parcels.
    Under the trust model the homebuyer owns the house, but the land trust retains ownership of the land on which it’s built.
    This is what makes the homes “affordable,” Hughey said.

A for-sale sign points to property owned by the Sitka Community Land Trust this afternoon. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday for the first house to be built on the Halibut Point Road subdivision. (Sentinel Photo)

    The land trust will build the house, which Sitka resident Erin Fulton will purchase for $226,000. The design she selected is a 930-square-foot model with two bedrooms and one and a half baths. Prices of the homes will vary, depending on whether clients want one-, two- or three-bedroom homes.
    The homes will have five- and six-star energy efficiency ratings, and are heated by an electric heat pump, with an in-wall supplemental heater in a bedroom. The buyer picks the color of the exterior from among a range, the type of wood for cabinetry, floor coverings, and type of countertop.
    Fulton will make the purchase through a mortgage, rent the land from the SCLT and pay a small fee to the homeowners association.
    “The idea is with a land trust you’re creating permanently affordable housing that remains affordable over time, and you have to retain the quality over time,” Hughey said.
    The goal is to help first-time homebuyers, allowing them to build up enough equity to purchase a home on the open market. The trust also has another family lined up to purchase the second home.
    Fulton, who has been a renter since her arrival in Sitka seven years ago, said she’s excited to have her own place.
    “I wanted to find my own place but it’s so stinking expensive,” she said.
    Fulton, 32, is head expedition leader for Alaskan Dream Cruises, and Morning Edition host at KCAW-FM, where she first learned about the SCLT in Sitka. She currently lives with two housemates in an historic three-bedroom house, but is ready to make the move into a newer place that’s all her own, that’s more energy efficient. She said she had seen the Community Land Trust model work during her graduate school years in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, and is pleased to see Sitka joining the ranks of communities to offer this affordable housing option.
    “If you want people my age to stay in Sitka, we need a place to live,” she said. “Instead of paying rent, I’m putting something into something I can get value out of.”
    Fulton said although she knows many people are retiring in Sitka and may be able to afford homes under the traditional model, affordable options are essential to a community like Sitka.
    “You need working-age people and young people if you’re going to have a community that survives,” she said.
    Fulton will have a traditional mortgage, but the next home buyer in line is pre-qualified for help from the federal Rural Development office, Hughey said.
    Hughey said it’s been a long road, but he hopes the success of the initial projects will lead to more affordable housing being available for first-time home buyers.
    “It’s such a relief to get going, such a relief to get started on what we thought we would be doing – building,” he said.
    Hughey said a number of Sitkans have contributed to get the project this far. Caitlin Woolsey and Matt Christner designed the layout of the neighborhood, Ben Kraft of North Wind Architects provided initial design work, with Jill Hirai completing the task. Sam Smith of Hard Rock Construction, is the builder. Hughey has also been working closely with First Bank to make the project happen.
    The groundbreaking ceremony Friday will include Mayor Gary Paxton, SCLT representatives, representatives from the city, bank and others.
    “It’s small numbers, but it’s an opportunity for people who have a hard time getting into a home,” Paxton said. “It’s a small but important part of affordable housing.”
    Mim McConnell, co-executive director of the trust, will not be able to attend, since she’s taking care of family business in Maine.
    “I’m excited, I’m disappointed I’m not there,” she told the Sentinel. “The development of the cottage neighborhood has been part of the discussion of affordable housing since 2009. And 10 years later, it’s really exciting to see the first house built in this neighborhood, Halibut Point Cottages.”
    Tristan Guevin, who was on the Assembly that approved the sale of the land to SCLT, said he was happy to see the first sale. Guevin is currently attending graduate school in California, while continuing to work for Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
    “I’m happy to see the collaboration between the city and local nonprofit organizations are paying dividends for Sitka, and creating opportunities for affordable housing,” said Guevin, who was in Sitka this week. “It shows the importance of the city collaborating with the nonprofit sector to make Sitka better.”