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Council approves addendum to allow Dev Northwest home to convert to community land trust
Summary
Council authorized an addendum to a HOME grant agreement (contract 1187-1) that lets Dev Northwest convert a grant-funded rental home into a community land trust by reducing the HOME affordability requirement to 10 years so the project (already at year 12) will not trigger repayment; council approved unanimously.
The council approved an addendum to a HOME program grant agreement with Dev Northwest that enables converting a grant-funded rental house into a community land trust.
City staff explained the technical change: Dev Northwest asked to reduce the HOME program affordability period from 15 years to 10 years so that, because the project is already in its 12th year of affordability, the HOME affordability obligation under the original grant would be satisfied and the property could be converted to a community land trust without triggering repayment of federal HOME funds.
Karen Saxs, senior director of policy and advocacy with Dev Northwest, described how the community land trust model works: she said the buyer signs a 99-year ground lease that renews with each subsequent buyer and effectively keeps the property affordable in perpetuity. "It is 99 years — we effectively call it in perpetuity," Saxs said. Council approved the addendum and authorized the city manager to execute the documents necessary to implement the change (contract number 1187-1).
