One Roof Community Housing brings new homes to Duluth

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) -- The construction and listing of two new affordable houses in Duluth marks a small victory in the city’s effort to fight the housing crisis.

In the Gary New Duluth neighborhood, two new 1,200 square foot homes sit on 99th Avenue West.

“The house is 15 feet wide by 40 feet.” said Debbie Freedman, the One Roof Community Housing development coordinator. “It’s two levels, two bedrooms, there’s a half bath on the first level.”

“They’re really lovely floor plans,” said Freedman. “It has an open feeling with very big windows, and they’re energy efficient.”

The single-family homes are decked out with energy star certified utilities and appliances, which make the houses durable and affordable.

“We built these two houses as a part of our Community Land Trust Program to provide affordable home ownership opportunities for people to purchase homes in Duluth,” said Jeff Corey, the Executive Director for One Roof Community Housing.

Each house is listed for $175,000 dollars, but not everyone gets a shot at buying the houses.

One Roof Community Housing is looking to sell the houses only to families making less than 80% of the area’s median income.

“What’s really important in the longtime health of the community is that we start replacing the housing stock because Duluth has the oldest housing stock in the state of Minnesota,” said Corey.

In order to keep the affordable homes affordable, One Roof and their partners worked through the Land Trust Program. With some financial help from city and state funds, One Roof was able to buy discounted vacant lots in the older neighborhood and start building.

“It increases the longevity of the overall housing stock when you add two new homes to a block,” said Corey.

A move that One Roof and the city hopes will put another dent in a longtime problem.

“Yeah, we are just doing our bit to work on that,” Corey.

The twin homes sit together on a 2,600 square foot lot.

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