WhitneY Commons

the homes

The second subdivision placed in the LEAP Housing Trust, Whitney Commons will be home to 11 homeowners who make at or below 80% of the area median income. The homes will be a series of 11 3/2s, ADA visitable and designed for energy efficiency. There will be a mix of one- and two- story homes, some with garages and some with carports.

Some land owners are patient. We like to find those people.

Boise’s real estate market has outpaced the ability of lower wage earners to buy a home, which means that this opportunity wouldn’t have come along naturally. That’s why we’re thankful that the previous owner of the land was mission-minded, and waited patiently for us complete the capital stack to make the deal work.

Named Whitney Commons for uncommon generosity.

The Whitney Foundation gave LEAP $200,000 to help purchase the land and place the land in the LEAP Housing Trust. That means we can use real estate instruments like deed restrictions to legally guarantee that future sales of homes on this land are sold at affordable prices to income-qualified households.

Sharing the wealth with future generations.

The homes at Whitney Commons will be part of the LEAP Housing Trust, which means they’ll remain affordable for buyer after buyer, forever. The Whitney Foundation’s one-time investment is making it possible for generations of low-income households to become homeowners.

capital stack & Financials

NewWest Community Capital | $832,000 construction loan
City of Boise CDBG Fund | $314,925 toward single home rehab
Federal Home Loan Bank | $950,000 toward home price reductions*
Whitney Foundation | $200,000 toward Housing Trust preservation
Land Costs and Construction Costs | ~$1.2M ($697,694 for land)
Existing Home Value | $314,000+
*Buyers must qualify at 80% area median income or less

Top: preliminary site plan for Whitney Commons. Middle: PLAT submitted to the City of Boise. Bottom: Google Earth image showing vacant land and existing home.