Homes for Islanders has signed an agreement with Country Village, LLC to purchase 18 developed lots at the Country Village subdivision on Lampard Road in Friday Harbor.
Homes for Islanders plans to complete remaining site work this spring and begin home construction on 10 of the lots in the summer, Executive Director Justin Roche said. Home construction on the remaining eight lots is slated to begin in spring 2011.
Purchase price was not disclosed.
Homes for Islanders homes are built with at least 65 percent homeowner and volunteer labor, which lowers the cost of the home. The homeowner owns the home and land.
Homes for Islanders works with its homebuyers through the entire process of building the home, from assistance in applying for the low-interest loan from U.S. Department of Agriculture — Rural Development, to construction budgeting and instructions and supervision during every phase of the construction process.
Country Village will be different than other Homes for Islanders neighborhoods. Instead of a clustered, multi-family development, this neighborhood will consist of detached single-family homes, each with its own garage and on its own lot.
“We haven’t settled our home budgets yet, but we expect each home will cost in the low- to mid-$200,000 range, depending on house size,” Roche said.
Those interested in applying for self-help homes in either the first group of 10 or the second group of eight can contact Homes for Islanders at 370-5944, or e-mail info@homesforislanders.org. Or visit the office at 640 Mullis St., Suite 102b (on the corner of Mullis and Market streets, across from Whidbey Island Bank).
Roche said agencies expected to be contributors to this project include:
— U.S. Department of Agriculture – Rural Development
— Washington State Department of Commerce – Housing Trust Fund
— Community Frameworks
— Housing Assistance Council
— Rural Community Assistance Corporation
— San Juan County
— Town of Friday Harbor
Homes for Islanders has built 33 homes in four neighborhoods: Leeward Cove, Rocky Bay and Park Plaza on San Juan Island, and Woodland Estates on Orcas Island.
Homes for Islanders started construction on six homes at North Beach Gardens — on the corner of North Beach Road and Shady Lane in Eastsound — last summer. Construction on Heritage Place — on Malcom Street, across from Friday Harbor Elementary School — was scheduled to begin in summer 2010, but it’s been moved because of the Country Village development.
