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SUNNY Temp: 50 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Tuesday, September 30, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 25, 2003 Thanks to the efforts of Southern Oregon University, a developer and nonprofit organizations, this home won�t be demolished, but instead will be moved and renovated to create an affordable family home in Ashland. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Ashland gets three bargains A complex deal will make three small homes available for as little as $135,000 apiece By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune ASHLAND — In a city where median housing prices now hover at $285,000, the trio of tidy bungalows off Hersey Street will be nothing less than outright bargains. Three low-income families could pay as little as $135,000 apiece for the homes by fall, thanks to a cooperative venture aimed at increasing Ashland’s dwindling stock of affordable housing. "The goal is to have three families with kids in the Ashland schools not have to move out of the area," said Larry Medinger, a local developer who bought the land that made the deal possible. The sale is expected to close today for six lots on 1.2 acres off Hersey and Patterson streets. Advertisement Three of the lots will host the former Southern Oregon University student housing dwellings that had been set for demolition this spring. Instead, thanks to a complicated arrangement involving Medinger, SOU, the Ashland Community Land Trust and the Rogue Valley Community Development Corp., the houses were moved a couple miles from their Webster Street site to be renovated and sold. The deal caps a tense few months of negotiations, said Ron Demele, executive director of the RVCDC. "It was nail-biting time," he said. Demele began looking at the 1940s-era houses in March, when SOU officials prepared to build a new $800,000, 8,300-square-foot center for Rogue Valley Community Television. The three student houses were in the way, said Bruce Moats, SOU physical plant director. The university had money to tear them down, but officials preferred to donate them to a local nonprofit, he said. "It just kind of felt like, do the right thing," Moats said. RVCDC, which works to create affordable housing throughout Jackson County, saw an opportunity, Demele said. It accepted SOU’s donation of the houses and about $15,000 in relocation costs. Trouble was, it had no place to put them. Enter Medinger, a longtime city advocate for affordable housing. The developer searched hard for land, to no avail. Then a friend told him about a parcel off Hersey that was soon to be sold. Medinger agreed to buy the six lots, which are each appraised at more than $110,000. But RVCDC couldn’t afford that price. Enter the Ashland Community Land Trust, which had been awarded a $120,000 grant in 2001 to purchase property for affordable housing. Two years of searching had yielded no suitable land, said Krista Berry, ACLT vice president. Last week, the City Council granted approval to use the grant for the Hersey Street project. "We all have this common goal," Berry said. Under terms of the agreement, Medinger will sell the lots to the Land Trust, which will retain a 99-year renewable lease on the land and sell the houses. The RVCDC will pay the Trust $50,000 apiece for the 900-square-foot, two-bedroom houses, plus costs of renovation, Demele said. Medinger will build on the remaining three lots and sell the houses at market value. Potential buyers may be able to qualify for low-interest USDA rural development loans, Demele said. They’re available to people with limited annual incomes: $27,700 for a single person, $31,700 for a household of two, $35,650 for a household of three, and $39,600 for a household of four. While the purchase of an Ashland home will be a boon for the individuals, it will also help the wider community by encouraging local residents to live where they work, Medinger said. "When you push people out of whole cities and make them commute every single day of their working lives, you create the L.A.s and the Seattles of tomorrow," he said. Potential buyers who think they might qualify for the home loans should contact Sue Cherry at the USDA’s local office, 776-4291, Extension 112. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times