The City of Eugene is considering four affordable housing proposals that seek public funding.
The city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund has just over $1 million available in this grant cycle. Laura Hammond, Eugene’s housing tools analyst, said the four proposals altogether include 152 housing units and up to $2 million in funding requests.
She said they likely won’t be able to fund all of them fully.
“It will be an important process to look at them closely to determine what the needs are in the community compared to what’s being offered,” she said. “And then use the guidance of our evaluation committee and our affordable housing trust fund committee to help inform that decision, which will ultimately go to the City Council in June.”
Hammond said the public can also share their comments on the projects at the city of Eugene’s website.
The AHTF was created to support local innovative housing projects affordable to lower and moderate income earners. It’s funded with a .5% construction tax.
Two of the proposals under consideration are land trust developments. Hammond said this model can be a more affordable way to purchase a home.
“The Community Land Trust model is one way to make ownership a little more affordable because the land is owned by the non-profit organization,” she said. “So the homeowner only has to pay for the price of the house. So it does bring that housing price down to a more affordable level.”
A project that was a previous beneficiary of AHTF money, Peace Village, is a community land trust.
Hammond said Eugene has a very low vacancy rate, at about 3%, so housing is at a premium. Especially affordable housing.
