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Community land trust plans and Avalon Way project seek to preserve homeownership and workforce housing
Summary
Big River Community Land Trust and other presenters described a CLT approach that preserves long-term affordability through land retention and resale caps, and outlined funding challenges for a planned 40-unit Avalon Way project.
Big River Community Land Trust’s executive director, Alicia Sherburne, described the CLT model the nonprofit is using to create perpetually affordable homeownership in the Gorge and outlined an Avalon Way project in early development that would add 40-plus units for workforce households.
Sherburne explained the model: the nonprofit retains ownership of the land, sells only the house under a 99-year ground lease, requires owner-occupancy and maintenance obligations, and uses a resale formula to cap annual equity appreciation (Sherburne said the CLT caps equity growth at 1.5% per year). She said the CLT is focused on keeping people living where they work and will serve four counties across the Gorge.
On Avalon Way, Sherburne described a 2.7-acre site purchased from a local church (the seller is holding the note), active predevelopment with engineers, architects and a developer, and a funding mix that includes a potential state middle-income revolving loan fund and a $2 million federal allocation secured through Senator Merkley’s office. "We did get a $2 million federal allocation through Senator Merkley's office," she said. Sherburne emphasized that middle-income homeownership financing is thin on available sources and that local flexible capital could help make the math work.
