JACKSON, Wyo. — During the Town Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 5, the County Commissioners approved a change to Kelly Place Condominiums deed restrictions for three two-bedroom units to allow initial sales to businesses for employee housing.
According to The Town, the developers asked for a change to the deed restrictions on the three units to allow them to be sold to businesses, with the stipulation that the units must be rented to a Qualified Household who meets the Workforce Program requirements (one person works full-time locally, 75% of household income is earned locally, no ownership of residential real estate within 150 miles).
The developer requested this amendment because they say a changing marketplace with high interest rates (relative to the previous several years), has inhibited the sale of the three remaining units, according to the meeting minutes.
The Town’s approval of this amendment allows the developers to sell units three, 11 and 12 (sale price can not exceed $895,000) to businesses that would then rent the condos to their workforce employees.
“I see this as us working with our partners,” Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson said during the Town Council meeting. “For private-public partnerships to continue to work, we have to be flexible. At the end of the day, our community members who work for local businesses will be living in these units. And, so, I support it. I appreciate that the developer partner has not come back to ask for additional subsidies, which we have seen many times in our other projects.”
April Norton, Director of the Jackson/Teton County Housing Department, made it known that she does not approve of the amended change to allow the units to be sold to businesses.
During the Town Council meeting, Norton assured County Commissioner Jonathan Schechter, that if and when the units were to go back into the market at a future date, the units would then be required to be sold to a Qualified home buyer.
The property consists of two contiguous NH-1 lots that are located in the Town Residential Core in an area identified by both the Comprehensive Plan and the Housing Action Plan (HAP) as a desired location for redeveloping workforce housing. The County purchased the property in January 2019, and the property was transferred to the Jackson/Teton County Housing Authority.
According to The Town, of the 12 original units, seven have been purchased and two are under contract. The three units remain available for purchase. These are all two-bedroom homes and are listed for $850,000
The Town Council meeting minutes state, if after one year from the Effective Date (date restriction is executed) the units remain unsold, the developer must rent the unit to a Qualified Household. At this point, the Town or Housing Department will have the right to order an appraisal (paid for by the developer) and if the appraisal is less than the sales price, the developer will be required to list the unit for sale at or below the appraised value and will have an additional 12 months to sell them.
If the units remain unsold after the additional 12 months (total 24 months from Effective Date of amended and restated restriction), a second appraisal will be ordered. If this appraisal is less than the first appraisal, the developer must list the unit for sale at or below the appraised value. If the appraisal is higher than the first appraisal, the developer must reduce the sales price by 10%.
