Common Ground completes eight-home Crail Cottages development
WENATCHEE — Common Ground Community Housing Trust has completed Crail Cottages, an eight-home development in Wenatchee designed to provide permanently affordable homeownership.
The organization will mark the completion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16. The event will include local officials, community partners, investors, Common Ground board members and others involved with the project. Guests will also have an opportunity to tour the homes.
The development at 1034 Ninth St. is Common Ground's first housing project and the first completed under the nonprofit's community land trust model. It includes four one-bedroom and four two-bedroom cottage-style homes, each approximately 970 square feet.
All eight homes are under contract, according to Common Ground, and some of the future homeowners are expected to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The households were selected through a lottery following the organization's application and eligibility review. Each household also completed homebuyer education and other requirements of Common Ground's homeownership process.
“This project represents so much more than eight homes,” said Thom Nees, Executive Director of Common Ground Community Housing Trust. “It represents what can happen when a community comes together with a shared commitment to creating lasting solutions to our housing challenges. I have been incredibly impressed by the number of people who have contributed their time, resources, money, and influence to make Crail Cottages possible.”
Under the community land trust model, buyers purchase and own their homes while Common Ground retains ownership of the land. Homeowners enter into a renewable ground lease with the organization. The structure allows homeowners to build equity while keeping the homes affordable for future buyers, according to Common Ground.
“The housing crisis we face will not be solved by short-term thinking,” Nees said. “Crail Cottages gives us a foundation to build from — one project, then another, and another. Our community needs so much more than eight affordable housing units, and we hope this is just the beginning.”
Common Ground said the development was supported by lenders, local government, investors, donors, construction professionals, community partners and volunteers. The organization did not provide a total project cost or identify individual funding sources in its announcement.
As its first completed development, Crail Cottages is intended to provide a model for additional community land trust homeownership projects in the Wenatchee Valley.
“We are grateful to everyone who believed in this project and helped bring it from an idea to eight front doors,” said Nees. “Today we celebrate these homes and these homeowners. Tomorrow, we get back to work building the next opportunity.”
Common Ground Community Housing Trust is a nonprofit organization focused on creating permanently affordable homeownership opportunities in the greater Wenatchee area.