Community Homes of Patagonia (CHOP) has purchased .6 acres of land on the corner of Third and Pennsylvania in Patagonia.
The property, known as Gopher Field, is next to the Catholic Church and the senior housing apartments. This is a giant step forward for CHOP, which has been working toward this goal since it was formed in 2007.
CHOP plans to develop from four to eight homes (depending on demand and site configuration) at Gopher Field and sell them to low and moderate income buyers. The homes will be designed to attract people who have grown up in Patagonia and want to stay here, as well as our local teachers, policemen, and others who now cannot afford to live where they work.
Tod Bowden, a founder and current board member of CHOP, is excited that the nonprofit organization has finally acquired its first property for affordable housing using the Community Land Trust model. The land itself will be held in trust by CHOP. The new buyers will own their own homes and will hold a long-term lease for the land under them. CHOP will also seek other public and private funds to further reduce the sale price of the homes for qualified buyers. Those buyers will hold a mortgage with participating lenders.
Gopher Field was purchased from the Lenon family for $27,500. It was a bargain, as the land recently was appraised at $115,000. The Lenons’ generosity allowed CHOP to buy the land outright, using $12,500 from their capital reserves and raising an additional $15,000 through a brief capital campaign during the last quarter of 2014. Because of CHOP’s 501c3 nonprofit status, the family is able to realize the tax-deductible benefit of the sale.
Bob Lenon, representing the family, wanted to support the creation of more affordable housing in Patagonia. The lot is the former home of the Patagonia Yankees, a Little League team coached by St. Theresa’s beloved Father Titzler in the 1950s and 1960s, and the only condition on the sale is placement of a small memorial to Father Titzler for his contributions to the Patagonia community.
The land purchase is a critical and exciting step. However, the CHOP board recognizes that the major work is yet to come. There are many questions still to be answered, and the board has already begun to tackle them. They sponsored a meeting on January 21 to introduce the Affordable Homeowner Program being developed by CHOP at Gopher Field. Fourteen people attended this meeting, and at least three families expressed interest in possibly becoming homeowners through the new program.
Bowden answered questions about the cost of the ground lease—$25 a month; the size of the homes—modest; the type of construction—open to all options; the price of the homes—dependent on size and amount of down payment assistance that CHOP is able to secure for qualified homebuyers (ballpark cost of a stick-built home at Gopher Field is $100 per square foot); the type of loan for homebuyers—conventional bank mortgage for a leasehold property; and the timeline for construction of the homes—CHOP hopes to break ground in 2016.
There will be additional times for community members to learn about the home ownership opportunity. To assist them, CHOP is also convening a development advisory group, made up of professionals with affordable housing design, development, financing, and construction experience.
There is a homebuyer education course scheduled for this month. The free classes, which will be held in both Spanish and English, will offer eight hours of instruction for prospective homeowners. They are applicable for purchasing homes anywhere. People interested in the Gopher Field homes are strongly encouraged to attend the homebuyer education classes. Contact Tod Bowden at 520-394-9051 for more information.