Story County Community Housing Corporation (SCCHC) – A Community Land Trust – is a non-profit housing corporation devoted to providing safe and affordable housing for low-income people in Ames and Story County. We have both rental and home ownership opportunities. Contact Martin Property Management in Ames to rent one of our apartments.
If you would like to support the work of our organization or attend a monthly or annual meeting, please email the President of our Board of Directors, Ted Huiatt, at director.housing@gmail.com for details.
Members of our organization provide financial support which helps us make housing available to our tenants at below market rates. If you are not a member, you can join our organization with a monetary gift to us. Send your donation to 130 S. Sheldon, #307, Ames, IA 50014. Please email our President or Secretary, listed above, with any questions.
Our organization provides 13 families or individuals with rental housing in units we own. We also provide affordable home ownership to six families through our Community Land Trust model.
As a community-based organization, we depend on contributions from the public and so welcome participation in our monthly board meetings which are held at 130 S. Sheldon, Room 202. Please email the President or the Secretary of the Board for details on the next board meeting.
Collaborations with Non-Profit Organizations
Building relationships with other non-profits has been a hallmark of our organization’s work over our long history. Addressing housing issues works best when we can leverage our efforts with other organizations and the City of Ames. Our mission to provide affordable housing for low income families and individuals is strengthened by these collaborations.
AMOS – A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy
The SCCHC has worked with AMOS to study the issue of those who are mentally ill and homeless. Those with mental illness who are homeless cannot begin to stabilize without housing. Wrap around services are needed to stabilize and help individuals remain housed.
They studied the services offered in Ames and Story County and brought together officials to discuss this type of program for our area.
The Bridge Home
The Bridge Home stepped up and has brought a supportive housing project to Ames and Story County. Our organization is pleased to work with them to provide some of the rental units for this program to help address the tragedy of homelessness in Story County.
And, now, they have broken ground on a 16-unit building at 207 S. Sheldon to expand their supportive housing program. Congratulations to them! They received nearly $5 million in grant funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Iowa Finance Authority for the construction of this project.
Habitat for Humanity
Since 1998, our organization has worked with Habitat for Humanity to bring affordable home ownership to Ames for lower-income families. Six Community Land Trust (CLT) homes resulted from our collaborations. Our CLT model reduces the cost of homeownership by removing the land cost from their purchase price. A ground lease secures the families rights while creating affordability into the future with a resale formula which keeps the home affordable for the next buyer.
Recently, Habitat received a $1.6 million grant to construct 8 homes in the Baker Subdivision. The federal grant was obtained by the statewide Habitat organization which was distributed to several local Habitat branches including Ames. The grant will reimburse for construction costs.
Dan Nutini, Habitat’s director in Ames, said the 8 new homes will be 1,100 sq ft and will probably appraise out at $250,000. In the Ames’ marketplace, these homes will appreciate quickly. SCCHC is seeking to work with Habitat to help make these homes more affordable to lower-income families who purchase them, and to keep them affordable into the future as they are resold.
The City of Ames – Baker Subdivision
The City of Ames purchased “Baker’s Subdivision”, a 10.87 acre site in west Ames with federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money. More than 50% of the units on the site need to be priced at affordable rates for lower-income families to remain in compliance with the federal grant specifications.
In March 2023, the Ames City Council selected Des Moines-based Hatch Development Group to build and manage the affordable housing development – a $12.5 million proposal.
Construction on the 38-unit townhome development at 321 State Ave. will begin in the spring of 2024 and last for about a year.
It will have a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom units. All units will be affordable and limited to tenants who earn 40% to 60% of the area median income. In Ames, a single person could not make more than $35,200 a year to meet the 50% AMI threshold and a family of five, $54,300.
According to city documents, the Hatch site design is 100% two-story townhome style apartments, meaning each unit has an individual walk-up entrance, and there are no dwellings above or below another unit.
Affordable housing into the future
For July 2020 to June 2021 the average sale price for a single family home was $297,412, compared to $258,226 in July 2019 to June 2020, (which is approximately a 15% increase).
Affordable housing is difficult to cash flow in the for-profit marketplace. And, even non-profits have difficulties. Habitat for Humanity’s last home was built for $145,000 – a 1,000 square foot home — and that cost did not include the $50,000 lot or much of the labor cost as the DMACC Building Trades Class helped build the home.
A Story County Housing Study found that Story County needs 3,000 homes by 2040. Huxley needs 1000 units and Nevada needs 500. Ames needs much more affordable housing.
To provide affordable homes between $150,000 and $225,000, the City of Ames’ 2040 plan calls for existing housing to meet that price point. This housing will appreciate beyond the reach of most lower income families. Your voice is needed to encourage City officials to continue to move forward on this issue.
So much has been accomplished to bring affordable housing to our community. Thank you for continuing your focus on this critical issue and thank you for your continuing support of our organization.
More information on affordable housing issues can be found at The Urban Institute. Margery Turner was featured on PBS with her research which can be found here.