The real estate market might still be awful, but there’s an upside: with a little creative thinking, Homestead has found a unique opportunity to make lasting solutions for affordable housing.
The Valtera Townhomes – created by developer Stephen Boyd and made available to Homestead land trust owners through a generous land donation from Judy Pigott of Blue Heron, LLC, and Habitat for Humanity – are a recent example of Homestead’s innovative partnerships.
The Chalker-Newton household (featured on page 1 “A Gift for the Family That Gives”) worked with Habitat to buy their home. Other Valtera homes are available directly to Homestead land trust buyers, and some of the townhomes will be sold at market rates to create a diverse community. This creates a win-win situation for all of the partner organizations and families. There are still market-rate and land trust townhomes available here, so spread the word!
Special thanks for this project go to Judy Pigott, owner of the Valtera Townhomes property, and Habitat’s Lisa Geissler and Sharon Burke. Without their generosity and teamwork, this project would not have been possible.
Homestead looks forward to building on these relationships. We continue to seek out new community partnerships that will make permanent affordability a reality for even more Seattle families.
Land trusts are an excellent tool in the investors arsenal, but the investor must be savvy enough to fully utilize the trusts benefits.
Posted by: Asset Protection | February 24, 2011 at 11:24 PM