Sister Bay to get affordable home for educator, thanks to Door County Housing Partnership

SISTER BAY - The collaboration between two Door County organizations working to provide affordable, year-round workforce housing on the Peninsula takes another step Tuesday with the start of a home for a qualified early childhood educator.

That's when the Door County Housing Partnership will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a home to be built in Sister Bay by volunteers coordinated by Door County Habitat for Humanity. Representatives from the two partnering agencies will speak during the event, as will 1st Assembly District Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, and Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. secretary and CEO Missy Hughes.

When completed, this will be the sixth new home built for the Door County Housing Partnership, but its first in Sister Bay with the other five in Sturgeon Bay, and the fourth under its agreement with Door Habitat that has the partnership finance the build and sell it to a qualified buyer, while Door Habitat volunteers coordinate the construction and build it. The three-bedroom, two-bath, approximately 1,240-square-foot home with a two-car attached garage is expected to be ready next year.

"Habitat volunteers essentially are the contractors," Door Habitat board member and volunteer Paula Busby Latta said. "(The housing partnership is) fully funding the home and the buyers have to meet housing partnership criteria."

Under the conditions set by the partnership, the home buyer purchases the home at an affordable price, below market value, and signs a 99-year lease for the land, of which the partnership retains ownership. A subsidy allows the buyer to purchase the home at that price. An agreed-upon formula helps the family realize equity on the home over time.

Working families looking to buy a home through the partnership must meet income eligibility requirements (up to 120% of area median income, according to the partnership's website) and qualify for an approved mortgage, live there full-time, keep the home maintained and in good shape and, if they choose to move later, sell the home to another income-eligible family at an affordable resale price calculated by the partnership.

With affordable, year-round housing for working families in critically short supply in Northern Door County, this home is one of 10 planned by the partnership to be built in Sister Bay on land purchased from the village using grant dollars from United Way of Door County.

The United Way received a Workforce Innovation Grant from the state's Department of Workforce Development and Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to help stabilize the child care situation in Door County, partially by making more affordable housing options available to early educators and child care specialists. In a Facebook post, the housing partnership said it will sell this new home to a qualified early childhood educator.

The groundbreaking takes place at 11:30 a.m. July 30 at 2423 Ava Hope Trail, Sister Bay. For more information about the Door County Housing Partnership, visit doorcountyhousingtrust.org.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County organizations break ground for affordable Sister Bay home