Buildings will launch new housing program

Helen Vanderzanden thought there was something wrong with her cable television service Thursday morning, so she called Comcast to find out what was going on.

"They told me a couple houses were going to be moved down our street," Vanderzanden said, as she watched the second of the duo slowly being pulled down Southwest Leonard Street about 10 a.m. "It's pretty cool."

Several dozen people lined sidewalks to watch utility company employees lift electric and cable television lines and see Andrew Feasel of Tree-Ific Arbor Care wield a chain saw clearing overhanging tree limbs. A house, on large steel beams attached to numerous wheels and tires, covered the entire street side-to-side as well as much of the sidewalks.

The two small houses - each about 1,100 square feet - were moved from property on Southwest Third Street owned by Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services to a 10,000-square-foot lot, owned by the same association. The half-mile journey took a couple hours, plus several weeks of preparation.

Project manager Garrick Harmel said the houses had been on property that Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services purchased for development of multi-family housing, called Alexander Court.

"These had been rental houses," Harmel said. "We thought rather than tear them down, they could be used again as the first houses in our Community Land Trust program."

Harmel said WNHS owns two apartment complexes on Southwest Leonard Street and a grassy knoll near them will become the resting place for the two houses. The land will continue to be owned by the Community Land Trust, but the families will be able to purchase the homes through the Leonard Knolls Community Land Trust, with rights to the land. Without having to purchase the land itself, Harmel said, families will be able to get into the houses for an estimated $110,000 - about half of the average home price in Corvallis.

The City of Corvallis Community Development Department provided $264,000 toward the project. Another $30,000 came from the Self Help Homeownership Opportunity Program and $10,000 came from the NeighborWorks America program.

Adam Blagg, of Allstar Construction LLC, said his crew prepared the homes to be moved by Steve Hoskins of Salem.

"With old houses, you never know what you're going to get into, but these houses were well-built," Blagg said. "We took the roofing off and bolted things together in spots. They are really nice old houses."

Blagg said Allstar often works on WNHS properties and will remodel these homes in preparation for their sale.

They will get new roofs, new windows and doors, updating of electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation and improved insulation and landscaping.

The homes should be on the market by late June or mid-July, according to Harmel. Potential buyers will need to meet income guidelines, plus attend first-time homeowner classes.

To learn more about the housing program, call Harmel at 752-7220.

Alex Paul can be contacted at alex.paul@lee.net or by calling 758-9526.