Affordable Housing: 89 New Homes in Missoula's North Side

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - For the hundreds of families eager to find an affordable home, a partnership including the City of Missoula, Ravara Development, North Missoula Community Development Corporation, and the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, will begin creating 89 new homes and condominiums on Missoula's North Side utilizing the land trust model.

I spoke with Hannah Cosel, Stewardship Coordinator at the North Missoula Community Development Association about the groundbreaking and what it means for those seeking affordable housing.

Kosel briefly described the community land trust model. In other words, the buyer owns the structure, but not the land on which it sits.

There Will be 89 New Land Trust Units Available on the North Side

“With the Community Land Trust, homeowners signed a ground lease that is good for 75 years, and it's renewable,” began Cosel. “So it really is this, like a stronghold bringing peace for stability, for you to know that even if I don't own the land like it's not going to be sold out from underneath me, and that ground lease also determines that you bought the home far below market price, and you're willing to sell it at an affordable price to the next buyer as well.”

Cosel then described the newest package of 89 land trust homeownership units under construction.

Over 46 New Homes Will be Available in the Next Few Years

“We're really fortunate that the city has land based on being put into the community land trust, and a bunch of new housing being currently being built on the North Side,” she said. “There will be over 46 homes that will be available in the next few years for folks earning low to moderate wages and ensuring that they can have affordable home ownership options.”

Cosel said the first phase of new homes should be available for sale in 2026, and will include mostly townhomes and condos. She said the program welcomes anyone eligible to apply to purchase the homes.

“We welcome folks to apply to our program,” she said. “We're happy to keep anyone on our interest list, so we'll notify them when homes become available, and especially we'll let them know once the prices and the income limits on these homes have been set. Those likely won't be set until a little closer to construction completion, just to make sure all the numbers and everything works out, but it looks like it's available for folks earning up to 120 percent of the area median income.”

Homeword is an Excellent Place to Get More Information

Cosel said there are several agencies that can assist those interested in purchasing through the community land trust model.

“HUD (Housing and Urban Development) has certified courses, and Homeword is our local agency that provides these homeownership classes,” she said. “They're really great and are filled with knowledge and information about the financing process, about searching for homes with realtors to learn more about kind of the costs and the upfront closing costs, and kind of your monthly mortgage payments and what all that might look like as well. So we encourage folks to go through that (course), to really get a really deep understanding of how that home ownership process works.”

Click here to find out more about the Community Land Trust and how it differs from the traditional real estate market.