2022 REAL ESTATE EDITION
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: HOUSTON COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
Preservation strategies Researchers with the Kinder Institute for Urban Research pinpointed a number of methods that can be employed to keep housing a ordable in Harris County. SOURCE: KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Social impact funds: Investors who want to support a ordable housing can invest in projects with the expectation that they will get low market returns. Tax increment reinvestment zones: Municipal entities that
The nonpro t Houston Community Land Trust provides assistance to prospective homeowners who are under 80% of the area median income level, which can include up to $150,000 in help with down payments and closing costs, Executive Director Ashley Allen said. The land trust works in
Allen said. The city provides funding that goes toward subsidies while also helping streamline the permitting pro- cess for nonpro t builders, Allen said. Allen, who experienced homeless- ness as a youth, said she sees positive momentum in Houston. The next step, she said, is getting all of the di erent pieces working together. “We need to provide more support and uplift the great nonpro t devel- opers doing the work,” she said. “If we put some focus and policy on support- ing them, we can address the issue.” Another bene t of the land trust is that it stabilizes property taxes on a property, helping homeowners who might otherwise have had to foreclose when taxes became una ordable. partnership with the city of Houston, which helps provide funding. While the land trust was seeing around 40 applications per month in the early spring, Allen said that doubled to 80 per month in May and June, a trend she attributed to rising property taxes.
raise tax revenue can use those funds to incentivize developers to preserve and build a ordable housing within the TIRZ’s boundaries.
Ashley Allen, executive director of the Houston Community Land Trust
not last long, Horak-Brown said. “For folks at 30% of the area median income, for every 100 units of a ord- able housing that are needed in the Houston metropolitan area, 19 of them exist,” she said. Avenue operates 10 multifamily communities comprising roughly 1,000 units in Houston, including both subsidized and unsubsidized projects. The company launched a social impact fund two years ago to help acquire and preserve NOAH projects. The move was a necessity to meet the challenge of providing more units as demand rises, Lawler said. “We would love to build as many units as possible, but the subsidy is
Another concept is a community land trust, a home ownership model in which a nonpro t or governmen- tal agency acquires the land and the homebuyer buys the house, reducing the cost and making homeownership an opportunity to more people. Founded in 2018, the nonpro t Houston Community Land Trust pro- vides assistance to prospective home- owners who are under 80% of the area median income level. Assistance can include up to $150,000 in help with down payments and closing costs. The land trust works in partnership with the city of Houston and build- ers like Avenue CDC to nd homes for people, Executive Director Ashley
limited,” Lawler said. “It’s just not cur- rently su cient to build us out of this challenge.” The path forward The Kinder Institute released a report in November 2021 outlining strategies for how to preserve a ord- able housing in Harris County. Strate- gies that show promise include social impact funds, Fulton said, in which investors who want to support a ord- able housing can invest in projects with the expectation they will get low market returns. Avenue CDC is one of the few groups in Houston that have launched a social impact fund, Fulton said.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
In a 2022 Readex Research Survey, residents ranked Community Impact Newspaper #1 for usefulness of ads across TV, Radio, Social Media and Targeted Digital.
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • JULY 2022
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