Dreams come true: Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust making homes 'attainable'

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Most people say “affordable housing” when discussing the need to create homes that are reasonably priced for people in certain income brackets, but Larissa Crockett has another term she prefers to use.

Attainable housing.

Crockett is the new executive director of the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust (KHHT), a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to build 25 affordable or attainable homes in town by 2025.

Currently, the organization has completed one neighborhood and is now actively seeking properties on which to build a second and third, according to Crockett. Heritage Woods, the completed neighborhood, is located on Briggs Way and Tiger Lily Way and is comprised of six new homes, all purchased and now occupied.

One morning earlier this month, Crockett stood on Briggs Way – which is named after Patrick Briggs, the president of KHHT – and said the new homes there are designed to accommodate the way people live today.

“Inside, they have really bright, open, sunny, airy, shared spaces,” she said, looking at the duplexes and single homes in view.

Tanya Alsberg and Jennifer Armstrong are an example of two people whom KHHT has helped attain their own home, right here in Kennebunkport.

In April of 2021, Alsberg and Armstrong stood at the edge of an excavated, gravel-filled hole off Main Street and dreamed. Now, at the very same site, they live in their own home, thanks to KHHT. They bought and moved into the place on Briggs Way in February.

“We’re kind of crazily happy,” Alsberg said. “Every single day, we do the happy dance. Now that we’re here, it has changed our lives... It’s a lovely home.”

And she and Armstrong are making it their own. They have planted pollinators around their property, for example.

“We’re having bees and butterflies and bats and all the good stuff coming through,” Alsberg said. “We’re trying to plant things that are going to flower at different times of the year.”

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For years, Alsberg and Armstrong lived in apartments and stayed with friends, uncertain they would be able to buy a home here in Kennebunkport, where they own and operate JAK Designs, an art gallery and knitwear shop in Dock Square.

Armstrong said KHHT came along at just the time she and Alsberg were starting to consider moving away from Kennebunkport. She said they were not confident they would find something “even remotely affordable” within 45 minutes or an hour of their business.

Their home on Briggs Way is a dream come true, Armstrong said.

“I know that’s a cliché, but we are so happy to be here and so grateful that we are able to stay in Kennebunkport,” she said.

But this is not just a community in which the two own a business – it’s one where they volunteer too. Alsberg once served on the RSU 21 School Committee and now volunteers for The Kennector, providing rides for local residents who are not able to drive themselves. Armstrong has served on the town’s Energy Efficiency Committee and now is a part of its Climate Action Plan.

Crockett called Alsberg and Armstrong “wonderful additions to Kennebunkport,” the kind of individuals the KHHT is aiming to help.

“This project allows us to support our local businesspeople,” Crockett said. “And they’re contributing to their community as volunteers in these really important ways... It’s just a win-win for everybody.”

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Mission to make homes affordable

Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust started in 2018 with goals of attracting young families to the community and boosting enrollment at the local elementary school; increasing the town’s year-round population; addressing values of homes that are higher than the county average; and providing a large part of the local workforce that lives out of town with affordable options here in the community they serve.

The organization’s mission has gained even more purpose since its formation, given that housing prices have only climbed higher in the years since.

The median price of a home in Kennebunkport was $990,000 in May, according to Crockett. Now it’s around $885,000, she added.

“People can’t live here,” Crockett said. “Normal, everyday people cannot afford to live here.”

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Crockett said that 45% of the homes in town are owned by people who have them as their second or third residence and do not live in the community year-round.

“We are seeing a community that is depleting one of its most vital resources, which is a year-round population to support the schools, support the government,” she said.

Five of the six households at Heritage Woods have children attending local schools, according to Crockett.

“That was a major goal – to make sure that those schools remain vital,” Crockett said. “Actually, one of our homeowners has a baby that’s due in a couple of weeks. That’s exciting, right? We have young families coming in and really providing that vitality that families bring.”

Year-round residents also are key to providing workers and patrons for local businesses, such as restaurants, Crockett added.

“This feels like really important work,” Crockett said of the KHHT mission. “It’s a way to make sure the community stays vital and thrives.”

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How Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust works

KHHT uses the land-lease model, which the organization describes on its website as “an extremely attractive tool for maintaining the stock of affordable housing.” Under this model, KHHT owns the land and leases it to those who live in the home built on it. Removing the cost of the land is partly how the organization can offer housing for people with certain income limits.

Homeowners like Alsberg, Armstrong and others buy their homes at a reduced cost, complete with a regular mortgage and a 99-year lease from KHHT. The homes are financed with a traditional mortgage, secured by the homeowner, under the Maine Housing First Home Loan Program and Bangor Savings.

There are income requirements – set by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development – for those wishing to purchase a KHHT home.

According to Crockett, property taxes are figured into the organization’s affordability equation, alongside the mortgage, the insurance and the expected costs for maintaining the home. The idea is to have all of that come out to no more than one-third of the homeowners’ income. KHHT sells homes to individuals who earn 80% or less of the area median income.

“Let’s say you have a homeowner that earns $90,000 a year,” Crockett said. “That means that we cannot sell them a home that’s going to result in more than $30,000 a year going towards the costs associated with that home.”

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How you can help

Fundraising for the KHHT mission continues. According to Crockett, the organization has set a goal of establishing 100 monthly donors who will be called Front Porch Funders. These donors can sign up online at khht.org and can donate anywhere between $5 and $100 every month.

“This broad base of donors will help show granting agencies that KHHT has broad community support,” Crockett explained.

Also, mark your calendars: on Thursday, Dec. 8, KHHT will host a “Home for the Holidays” concert at Vinegar Hill Music Theater at 53 Old Post Road in Arundel as part of the Kennebunks’ annual Prelude celebration. Tickets will go on sale in October, and all proceeds will go toward supporting KHHT’s mission.

Such fundraising is geared towards the organization’s next construction projects, now that the six homes of Heritage Woods are now complete. Crockett declined to name the two properties on which KHHT is considering building its next neighborhoods because negotiations and other considerations are still under way and nothing is finalized.

According to Crockett, the two projects could result in small homes that could be marketed towards seniors or individuals who are single and work – people who do not need three-bedroom homes and might be seeking something more “modest.” One of the two parcels KHHT is considering could fit that scenario, while the other could be suitable for larger family homes and a “multigenerational focus.”

Crockett said KHHT is hoping these two projects could result in 20 new homes – which, if successful, would not only meet the organization’s goal of 25 new homes by 2025, but it exceed it by one.

“That would be super exciting,” Crockett said.

And – if the organization’s track record thus far is any indication – attainable.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunkport, Maine group making dreams come true with 'attainable' homes