Pensacola Habitat outlines new community land trust, shared-equity model and building goals

At a meeting of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Pensacola Habitat for Humanity representatives presented the Northwest Florida Community Land Trust and described how the shared-equity model will be used to expand affordable homeownership and rentals in the Pensacola area.

Kim Wilson, who introduced the affiliate’s work, said Habitat has operated in the area since 1981 and that the land trust formally launched on Jan. 30, 2022. "Our vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live," Wilson said, describing the CLT as a vehicle to move people out of long-term renting into homeownership while preserving long-term affordability.

Alicia Papa, director of real estate assets for Pensacola Habitat, explained the mechanics: the CLT retains ownership of the land under a long-term ground lease while the homeowner owns the house, creating a shared-equity model. Papa said the affiliate offers free legal counseling so buyers understand leased-land ownership and the resale agreement. She described average homes as about 1,200 square feet and gave a build-cost figure of about $120,000 per home.

Papa also described the CLT’s capital stack and subsidies: state appropriations, Escambia and Santa Rosa county support, City of Pensacola land donations and surplus lots, Impact 100 grants, NeighborWorks America grants, down-payment assistance and a permanent "silent second" subsidy held by the affiliate. She said the CLT stood up a rental program late last year and currently has five families in affordable rentals intended to serve roughly the 30%–60% AMI range.

On equity sharing, presenters said the homeowner receives a portion of accrued equity on resale while the CLT retains the remainder to keep the home affordable to subsequent buyers. The presenters stated a homeowner interest of 64% and gave the example that a homeowner would receive 25% of the indicated equity after 10 years, with a larger share available over a longer timeline; presenters said the share scales over time and cited a 30-year scale point.

Wilson described two near-term developments: Hancock, a 33-parcel subdivision across from Brown Barge Middle School that is near ground-breaking and will include rentals targeted to military families, fee-simple homes for the traditional Habitat program, workforce homes, and CLT homes; and East Jackson, a smaller nine-parcel city development that will follow a similar mixed model.

Wilson said Habitat recently launched a broker partnership called "Home for Good" with Love and Reinke Realty to route prospective buyers who cannot qualify on the open market into CLT opportunities. She gave a contact for follow-up: k wilson@pensacolahabitat.org.

Presenters said they would distribute the presentation deck after the meeting. No formal committee vote or action on the CLT was taken; the presentation concluded with committee questions and an agreement to circulate materials for further review.

Next steps: staff will send the PowerPoint deck to committee members and the committee will continue to review CLT materials and related parcel lists at future meetings.