Island Housing Trust
IHT Launches Gap Financing Pilot Project
Island Housing Trust has initiated a new program that proposes to provide gap financing to qualified applicants to assist in the purchase of a residential property. See the link to the press release found here for more information.
To see program and qualification criteria, please click on the link below:
News and Events
Ripples Hill Update
Construction was completed on the fifth house in Phase 1 of the Ripples Hill development in Somesville in September 2010. The fourth house was completed and occupied in early May. Three other houses, two of which were built early in 2009 and one completed last January, are also occupied by working families. The house on the last and sixth lot in Phase 1 is scheduled for construction beginning in August 2011. Fundraising is underway to underwrite the infrastructure costs for the next three lots to be developed at Ripples Hill. The extension of the roadway, sewer line and other utilities is scheduled for fall 2011 if fundraising efforts are successful. For more information about the development, please contact IHT at 207-288-4496.
Second Sabah Woods House Sold; Third House Available Soon
The second Sabah Woods house was sold in the fall of 2010. The purchaser was Jeannine Ross, an employee of The Jackson Laboratory. The third house at Sabah Woods is now complete and ready for occupancy to a successful qualified buyer.
Working through Island Housing Trust, Mrs. Emily Sabah-Maren has sold two of four houses she is planning to build in Sabah Woods to the couple. In addition to qualifying applicants, IHT also has assisted in developing the affordability easements and equity-sharing formula that will be used to keep the property permanently affordable to employees of MDI businesses and institutions. Mrs. Sabah-Maren, whose late husband, Dr. Thomas Maren, was affiliated with MDI Biological Lab, recently placed a second custom-designed modular house on another lot at Sabah Woods and once again will offer it for sale to applicants pre-qualified by Island Housing Trust.
Mrs. Sabah-Maren has created a four-lot subdivision on an approximately 8-acre piece of the property she owns between Route 3 and Bay View Drive. The four lots range in size from 1.3 acre to 1.53 acre and are located toward the middle and rear of the development. Approximately 3 acres of open space separate the lots from Route 3.
It is Mrs. Sabah-Maren’s intent to offer some, if not all, of the houses she is designing and placing on the lots for sale to applicants pre-qualified by Island Housing Trust. Income guidelines and other qualification criteria determine eligibility of applicants.
Qualified purchasers must have at least one household member employed on MDI and agree to live in the house as their primary residence. In return for the below market rate purchase price offered by Mrs. Maren and her willingness to absorb much of the infrastructure costs of the development, the purchaser must also agree to affordability easements that are intended to keep the property affordable to future applicants with similar household incomes adjusted for changes in wages over time, he added. The easements are designed to allow the homeowner to get a limited return on investment in the property as well as on the value of improvements over the period of ownership, he said.
Those wishing more information about the Sabah Woods house or how to apply for pre-qualification should contact Spruce at 288-4496 or via email at director@islandhousingtrust.org
Island Housing Trust is interested in working with any private developer on Mount Desert Island, Maine who is planning to construct year-round housing for MDI working individuals and families. We can help you develop the "housing easements" (deed restrictions and covenants) that may be needed to ensure the housing you designate for year-round residency remains that way. We can also help you recruit and qualify potential homeowners for the workforce houses you wish to build, as well as provide follow-up services for enforcement of the easements. For further information, contact Chris Spruce at IHT, 207-288-4496 or at director@islandhousingtrust.org.
Christopher Spruce, Executive Director • Island Housing Trust • P.O. Box 851 • Mount Desert, ME 04660
207-288-4496 (office) • director@islandhousingtrust.org
Office located at: 8-B Bethany Lane, West Eden Common, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
