Groups combine forces to build affordable housing

SANDPOINT — A local non-profit organization is joining forces with a new housing development with the goal of bolstering the area’s ailing affordable housing sector.

Representatives from the Seven Sisters subdivision in Kootenai, which has yet to break ground on its 57-unit development, last week announced its partnership with the Bonner Community Housing Agency. Both groups are touting the partnership as the first step toward bringing scores of affordable homes to the area.

Michelle Hefley of Planet Construction, which represents Seven Sisters, said she spent months working with “every imaginable governmental agency” on ways to make affordable housing developments viable for both home buyers and builders. Her search led her to BCHA, which incorporated in 2007 to support and develop affordable housing in the greater Sandpoint area.

Hefley recently presented BCHA with a check for $5,000, which will be used to help plan the development while applying for various state and federal designations. The first goal, according to both groups, is to earn USDA designated development status, which would enable them to receive loans with as little as one-percent interest.

Angela Potts, who presides over BCHA’s board of directors, said the bottom line of the partnership is finding ways to offer residents housing they can afford.

“It’s going to create affordable housing,” she said. “Right now there’s a gap between the need, which has always been there, and the availability, which has hardly been there. And when people have gotten affordable housing, it has been horrible quality.”

While still in the planning stages, Seven Sisters would likely classify approximately 12 of its nearly 60 properties as affordable homes, meaning houses that are affordable to those earning 60 percent of the area median income.

Despite the best efforts of a number of local individuals and groups, Bonner County has not been judged well in areas of affordable housing. In a 2008 report titled the “State of the Rockies Report Card,” housing markets in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming were graded on their level of affordable housing. While Idaho generally received high marks — more than half its homes are considered affordable — Bonner County was given a D, which is the lowest grade the report gives.

If the study gave F grades, the county would likely have been given one, Potts said.

“I would say, based on the area median income, and trying to hit a target price of $160,000, I’d say we’re darn close to failure,” she said. “I think it’s pretty gracious to say it’s only a D grade.”

If all goes according to plan, Hefley said she hopes to have at least 10 affordable homes under construction by the end of the year. There will likely be three models to choose from, and homes would be in the 1,100-square-foot range, Hefley said.