Rondo Land Trust eyes affordable housing project in Shoreview

Rondo Community Land Trust, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that makes homeownership more affordable, could be expanding its reach into the suburbs.

The nonprofit is considering building seven affordable townhouses on a wooded lot in Shoreview, after city officials proposed a partnership to build affordable housing in the middle-class suburb.

"We have concentrated our work in St. Paul, but we have started to do some work in suburban Ramsey County," said Greg Finzell, the Land Trust's executive director.

The nonprofit helps about 75 families with homeownership, with all but two of its homes in St. Paul. The other two are in Maplewood.

The Shoreview project would be new construction, another departure for the nonprofit whose name reflects the predominantly black neighborhood in St. Paul razed in the 1960s to make way for Interstate 94. The Land Trust typically rehabs existing homes.

Shoreview and Rondo officials plan to host a community meeting Tuesday to gauge neighborhood feedback.

The seven townhouses would be occupied by owners with income levels at or below 80% of average median income. That's $75,500 for a family of four in 2019, according to numbers set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They would need to qualify for mortgages.

The Land Trust keeps properties at an affordable price by retaining ownership of the land, Finzell explained. Homeowners buy the building and agree to a low-cost lease, typically $15 a month for the land.

"They lease the land back from us for 99 years," Finzell said. "They agree to take less than 100 percent of the appreciation when they go to sell the house. That is what keeps it affordable for the initial families, and families after that."

Demand for affordable starter homes continues to rise even as the supply declines, in part, because property management companies bought up bargain-priced single-family homes during the Great Recession.

"A lot of the affordable housing is now rental housing," Finzell said. "While that is not a bad thing, it has taken a lot of single-family housing off the market."

The potential Land Trust site is about three-fifths of an acre on Hodgson Road. The owner had planned to develop it for offices and condos 20 years ago but it never happened, said Shoreview City Planner Kathleen Castle. When the owner approached city officials, they reached out to Rondo.

Castle said smaller-scale projects like the proposed townhouses tend to be the most successful. "Typically, the thought is affordable housing is more successful if it's scattered throughout the community and you are not concentrating people in one area," she said.

City leaders, including Shoreview Mayor Sandy Martin, have expressed strong support for expanding affordable housing options in the city, even creating a first-time home buyer assistance fund.

Martin said she wants to hear neighborhood feedback before forming an opinion about the Land Trust's project. But she added that the city needs housing at affordable prices to ensure that people who work in Shoreview can also afford to live there.

The mayor recalled chatting with a young mother out for a walk with her child. The mother said she and her husband rented in Shoreview and would love to buy there, but feared they couldn't save fast enough to make it happen.

"This is the kind of family we want," Martin said. "They are energetic and hardworking. We need to make sure we have affordable housing, too."