Columbia Community Land Trust eyes next housing project

As the Columbia Community Land Trust finishes up one project, the group is eyeing another.

“Our current momentum, we should be right on target,” board member Anthony Stanton said.

The land trust board will soon start to develop 12 new homes on North Eighth Street, near Business Loop 70. The Columbia City Council purchased two lots in the area on Monday night for $125,500, using some of its savings from the previous budget year. The land is right next to a lot the city already owns, and plans for the land trust to use all three lots.

The Eighth Street project comes on the heels of two people moving into the recently completed Lynn Street Cottages. Those two, and other homebuyers, will own the home, while the city owns the land. The land trust’s first project involved building eight homes in the area. Community development staff member Randy Cole said four other homes have been purchased, and will close on them in the next several months. Two more homes are expected to be finished next year.

Board members and Cole said they wanted to complete a “postmortem” on the Lynn Street Cottages project before moving onto the next one. Stanton said the report will help clarify what everyone’s role should be on land trust projects.

“I think when we finish with the postmortem report we’ll really have a good picture on how we can improve,” Stanton said.

There is no cost estimate yet for the Eighth Street project.