Local land trust unveils first Webster Groves affordable home and seeks support

Kathleen Bibbons, a longtime Webster Groves resident and board member of the Webster Groves Community Land Trust, told the Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission that the trust’s goal is to keep homes permanently affordable for local workers.

Bibbons said rising home prices have pushed the median sale price in Webster Groves to about $475,000, while a typical Webster Groves teacher’s salary is roughly $71,000. “To afford that median home, a buyer needs to earn $120,000 plus,” she said, arguing that firefighters, teachers and other local employees are increasingly priced out.

The land-trust model Bibbons described separates ownership of land from ownership of a house: the trust buys and retains the land, sells the house at a below-market price and limits resale terms so affordability is preserved. “We own the land and we sell the home on the land to a homeowner at a below-market price,” she said. The homeowner still pays property taxes, mortgage and insurance, and receives limited resale equity under the trust’s formula.

Bibbons said the trust’s first house — a three-bedroom, one-bath property at 840 Pine Tree — was acquired with donations from a retired teacher and social worker and is expected to be listed for sale in early summer. She described the trust as a 501(c)(3) organization and asked the commission to refer employees who might qualify, and to consider time, talent or financial support.

The commission did not take a formal vote on funding during the meeting. Chair members asked for contact information and Bibbons left business cards and a short informational packet for commissioners to share. The trust’s founding and first home establish a mechanism for preserving below-market homeownership, but Bibbons did not provide specific eligibility criteria or the planned sales price; those details were described as available on the trust’s homeowner page.