‘Affordable homeownership that lasts forever’: 18 homes coming to Bellingham neighborhood
A quiet piece of land — currently vacant with the exception of an urban vegetable farm — will soon welcome 18 first-time Bellingham homebuyers with the promise of permanent affordability.
LaFreniere Court is a Kulshan Community Land Trust (KulshanCLT) development planned in the Birchwood neighborhood that officially broke ground Thursday.
“We’re trying to create affordable homeownership that lasts forever,” said KulshanCLT Executive Director Rose Lathrop at the groundbreaking event. “So this is not a temporary, momentary thing. The homes that we’re building today will be permanently affordable forever. I could not be more proud to be part of this organization and doing this work.”
It will feature 18 permanently affordable, energy efficient, solar-ready homes for purchase, including:
▪ Eight 1,233-square-foot, two-story homes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
▪ Eight 923-square-foot, two-story homes with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
▪ Two ADA accessible 932-square-foot, single-story homes with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The homes will be located nearby bus routes and schools. The urban farm on the property, City Sprouts Farm, will also maintain its location after development is complete.
The homes will be made available to low- to moderate-income (LMI) households — those at or below 80% Area Median Income (AMI).
Whatcom County’s median household income was $80,989 in 2023, according to U.S. Census data.
“We’re moving forward with permanently affordable ownership in such a pivotal neighborhood in Bellingham. Homeownership is how we build wealth in our country. It’s a system that we’ve created and it’s important that we expand access into that system,” Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund said at the event.
KulshanCLT creates permanent affordability by leveraging state, federal and local funding to support the down payment in the home purchase. The homeowner purchases the home itself below market rate, while the nonprofit owns the land under the home. This creates a ground lease that ensures the home will maintain affordability.
The LaFreniere Court homes are expected to cost less than $325,000 and $275,000 respectively, according to previous reporting by The Bellingham Herald.
In exchange for the reduced price of the home, homeowners agree to sell their home at an affordable price, if and when they decide to sell. Homeowners earn a 1.5% yearly equity on their homes — a rate determined by KulshanCLT — as the home appreciates in value and the mortgage principle is paid down. This allows homeowners to build equity over time but keeps the home from becoming unaffordable for the next buyer.
“It really does take a village to do this work and it’s such critical, important work. I only regret that we don’t have more resources to do more of this more quickly. That’s something that we’re working on and we’re going to keep working at it,” Lund said.
Lathrop thanked the city of Bellingham “not just for helping on this project, but for the bigger picture on the policy, the advocacy and the work that they’re doing to create more affordable housing in Bellingham.”
Fifty-six percent of renters and 24 percent of homeowners in Bellingham are cost-burdened, spending over 30 percent of their income on housing.
Mayor Lund proposed several measures to increase housing affordability and availability across the city, under an executive order last year, saying she is taking the step “to increase housing opportunities, with a focus on creating more — and more affordable — housing choices” as the city copes with its housing crisis.
The order directed city officials to:
▪ Diversify and expand housing options in all neighborhoods.
▪ Streamline the city’s permitting process.
▪ Incentivize, fund or create partnerships to develop more permanently affordable or transitional housing options like tiny home villages.
KulshanCLT currently has 142 homes in the trust and has partnered with more than 230 homebuyers, including more than 80 resales.
The Land Trust’s homeowner waiting list had more than 70 families — longer than ever — last year, according to the nonprofit’s former executive director.
LaFreniere Court is expected to welcome 18 first-time homebuyer households by December.
This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM.
