City, nonprofit working on housing issue, but it will take time
Developer Mick Ruis is building more housing on Nucleus Avenue and has other projects in the pipeline. The city is also working on affordable housing, but it will take time to come to fruition.
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
The City of Columbia Falls is hoping to work with the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust to bring at least some affordable housing to Columbia Falls.
But it’s going to take some time.
Affordable housing has been a front and center concern since the pandemic, as the housing market has surged.
Even modest homes are listing at well over $300,000. For example, a small 1,024 square-foot house built in 1944 that was formerly an apartment is listed today for $339,000.
Homes that have a garage and multiple bedrooms easily list at $500,000 to $600,000 and a modest lot in town can run upwards of $400,000.
The gap between wages and affordable homes is significant, Kim Morisaki, director of the land trust said.
The area median income is about $57,200 for a two-person household and about $71,400 for a four-person household.
Low income is considered less than 80% of those numbers; moderate income is 80% to 120% of them.
At that income level, however, they can really only afford a house that’s about $250,000. The problem is it costs about $350,000 to build a 1,200 square-foot, three bedroom, two bath house with a garage. That doesn’t include the lot, Morisaki noted.
That’s where the Land Trust comes in. It owns 52 homes in Kalispell, where the residents actually own the building, but the trust owns the land. When the residents decide to move, the Trust buys the home back at a reduced rate, and, in turn, sells it to another qualified workforce housing buyer.
The previous homeowner does build some equity in the house, but it’s a reduced rate.
Morisaki is looking to get a federal Homebuyer’s Assistance Grant to help Columbia Falls. The city also has about $135,000 set aside for affordable housing and could also turn a Community Development Block Grant program its has access to into workforce housing instead of businesses development. All told, it adds up to around $1 million with the block grant.
Morisaki said she eventually hopes to bring a similar program to Columbia Falls as what’s in Kalispell. But it will be probably two or three townhomes — not nearly enough to put in a dent in the larger problem.
Still, she said, she’s encouraged that developers are willing to help, such as donating a lot or two from a subdivision, or selling it at a reduced rate.
It’s close to a tipping point if the workforce can’t find housing.
“Who is going to run the place?” she said at a hearing in front of Columbia Falls City council recently.
Exacerbating the problem, people maintain, are vacation rentals. While the city last summer issued a report by attorney Justin Breck saying that vacation rentals weren’t impacting housing, others had different views.
One man, a local contractor, told council his mother was in danger to losing her home to a vacation rental and his rent had doubled, from just over $1,000 a month to more than $2,000 a month due to demand and pressure from vacation rentals.
When the city’s report was written by Breck a year ago, it said the city had about 50 vacation rentals. City manager Susan Nicosia said after the meeting there’s currently about 80 applications, with a fairly steady stream of applicants. About 11 are non-compliant, 10 are in progress and about 50 have city business licenses (not all rentals are in the city limits, but they are in the city planning jurisdiction).
Outside of the city limits and planning areas, there are hundreds more. All told, Airbnb and VRBO both list about 300 vacation rentals in the Columbia Falls area.
Corporations are also getting involved. Marriott International, the company that owns Marriott Hotels, is also in the game. It has 57 listings for vacation rentals in or near Columbia Falls. It specializes in listing high end homes. It doesn’t appear the company actually owns the homes.
“Marriott works with select professional home management companies to ensure that every home listed can be serviced at a standard expected of Marriott International,” the company says on its website.
One home in the Cedar Pointe subdivision is an example. It touts the views of the Swan Range and proximity to the Flathead River.
It rents for $352 a night.