Originally posted by:
Adirondack Daily Enterprise
SYDNEY EMERSON
Staff Writer
semerson@adirondackdailyenterprise.com

KEENE — Adirondack Roots is now accepting applications for the Both Meadow Trail development, a four-unit, single-family housing development for moderate-income families being built in Keene.

The two bedroom, one bathroom homes will cost about $160,000 each, the nonprofit, formerly the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County, said in a press release on Wednesday. The homes have income qualifications for potential buyers based on family size and the area median income. A single-person household qualifies if they earn $72,480 or less, while a six-member household’s maximum income qualification is $120,120.

“Our housing shortage means that families and individuals who could have afforded homes 10 years ago now find themselves priced out of the market,” Adirondack Roots Executive Director Megan Murphy said in a statement. “The Both Meadow Trail project is aimed squarely at people who may already be living in and contributing to our communities, such as renters or those looking to age in place, but have not been able to find the right opportunity.”

Two of the homes are already being built and are set to be finished by October. Construction on the other two will be underway by September and wrap up in December. The homes are modular units from Simplex Homes, a modular home builder based in Pennsylvania, and will include an unfinished basement and second floor in addition to the finished first-floor living space. The second floor can finished in the future by the homeowners, Adirondack Roots said, and energy-efficient heat pumps will provide heating and cooling.

Simplex also manufactured the 22 homes at Homestead Development Corporation’s Fawn Valley development in Lake Placid, another moderate-income, owner-occupied housing development that hit the market earlier this year. Homestead is set to build its next development, Fox Hill, as well as Lake Placid Thrive and Thrift, the planned new home for the Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry and Helping Hands Thrift Shop, with Simplex.

The Both Meadow Trail houses will be owner-occupied, with the Adirondack Community Housing Trust owning the land underneath the houses. Homeowners will pay $300 for ground lease costs. Murphy said this system, called a shared equity model, will help keep the homes “perpetually affordable” when owners may decide to sell in the future.

“That ground lease, that creates the partnership with the homeowners,” she said. “It keeps us a part of the sale interaction moving forward.”

Resales will also be beholden to a resale formula, which restricts owners from reselling the homes at a significant markup. Homestead Development used a similar formula requirement at Fawn Valley to ensure that future homeownership remains attainable at their developments.

“The creation of additional affordable and workforce housing is one of our greatest needs in Keene, and I’m very excited to see this project get off the ground,” Keene Councilor and Housing Task Force chair Teresa Cheetham-Palen said in a statement.

“With the Little Peaks Preschool and Early Childhood Center just next door, this project is a great example of a public-private partnership coming together to solve real problems. I’m grateful to Adirondack Roots for seeing it through,” she added.

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Application process

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Applications for the four homes are now available. Murphy said Wednesday that around 17 people attended the Keene informational session on the project, and Adirondack Roots has received two applications so far.

The applications are online at adirondackroots.org/our-services/for-homebuyers. Paper copies are available at the Keene Town Hall, the Keene Public Library and the Keene Valley Library. Murphy told the Enterprise last week that Adirondack Roots can also fax or mail paper applications to people who live farther away and can’t use or access the online application.

“We always want to be mindful of the digital divide. We always think that people can get everything off the internet, but that doesn’t always work for everybody,” she said.

Since there are state funds tied up in the housing development, the applications must be considered on a first-come, first-served basis — in line with the Fair Housing Act, Murphy said.

“We’ll start moving through folks as soon as we get those applications. They will be date and time-stamped,” she said. “Then, we will start working with them to be sure that they’re income-qualified, which would be the first hurdle.”

If applicants are income-qualified, they’ll begin working with an Adirondack Roots housing counselor to figure out their credit score for a potential mortgage, a down payment, bills and other new responsibilities that come with homeownership.

“The housing counselor process educates people just on the idea of being a homeowner — all of the things you need to think about,” Murphy said. “I wish, when I bought 24 years ago, that I’d gone through housing counseling. Because it really gets you thinking about all the different things about being a homeowner.”

The bottom line of the application process, Murphy said, is to make sure that the selected applicants are well-prepared for homeownership.

“We want our families to own these homes as long as they want to own them,” she said.