Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated to correct two errors. DevNW's role in this project is to assist with construction. The Three Sisters' Meadow is owned by the nonprofit McKenzie River Trust.
A new nonprofit formed to offer affordable housing in the McKenzie River Valley has acquired land in downtown Blue River for its first project.
McKenzie Community Land Trust is a nonprofit founded in 2022 with a vision "to provide home ownership options for the working class including wildfire survivors and other community members who are struggling to find an affordable option after the wildfire."
It has purchased two acres on the west end of Rose Street where it and Springfield-based affordable housing nonprofit DevNW will build six affordable homes, called the Rose Street Cottages. The three-bedroom, two-bath homes will be constructed to be fire-resistant.
“The Rose Street Cottages will help address a longstanding community need for affordable housing," Lane Tompkins, McKenzie School District superintendent and chair of McKenzie Community Land Trust, said in a press release. "To ensure a vibrant, dynamic McKenzie Community, working families need the ability to afford to live and work here on the river and these 6 homes are a step in that direction."
The project will be funded by a combination of $800,000 from Lane County for rebuilding after the Holiday Farm Fire; nearly $1.1 million from Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT), a state program that funds affordable home ownership construction; and $1.2 million of costs that have yet to be identified.
The nonprofit is called a "community land trust" because it was modeled after land trusts, nonprofits that engage in environmental protection on land they acquire or with agreements from land owners.
The community land trust plans to apply this model to housing, by retaining ownership of the land under the Rose Street Cottages and selling the homes to buyers who earn less than 80% of area median income: $45,262 for a household in the 97413 zip code. The plan is to ensure when someone moves out, the home is affordable to the next buyer, and that the seller will still make some money from increased property values.
The nonprofit plans to keep using this model for other affordable housing and economic development opportunities. It is also conducting community outreach on best uses for the Three Sisters' Meadow, a 16-acre property in Blue River owned by the separate nonprofit McKenzie River Trust.
McKenzie Community Land Trust said that in the time since the Holiday Farm Fire destroyed more than 500 homes in the McKenzie River Valley, construction costs have increased 40% and home prices have increased 28%.
"This large loss of homes has affected every aspect of community life in the McKenzie River Valley," the nonprofit said. Not only have home and property values increased, but "because the McKenzie River is a tourist destination, we are seeing an increase in second homes."
Those factors have made "homeownership out of reach for Blue River’s low to moderate-income families."
Lane County Disaster Recovery Manager Matt McRae told county commissioners during a Sept. 19 meeting that of the 517 homes destroyed in the fire, 158 (30.6%) had been rebuilt. An additional 91 homes (17.6%) were in the process of being built and three (0.6%) had their permits issued but had not begun construction. And 195 property owners (37.7%) chose to sell instead of rebuild.
Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on twitter @alanfryetorres.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: McKenzie Community Land Trust to build housing for wildfire survivors