Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

The past four years have marked a dramatic change in Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's building model.  In 2003, 65 percent of TCHFH's homes were single family.  Today, over 65 percent are multi-unit homes.  While rising land acquisition and construction costs have influenced the change, fast growing suburban communities have created a demand for affordable housing throughout the metro. 

Twin Cities Habitat's presence in Woodbury provides a success story for this changing building model.  When the Bailey's Arbor development was first planned, the City of Woodbury encouraged Centex Homes to incorporate 30 units of TCHFH homes into the overall development. A long time supporter of Habitat for Humanity, Centex supported the idea.

"At Centex Homes we have a long standing tradition of partnering with Habitat for Humanity.  Together we have built hundreds of homes for families across America.  We do this because we know homeownership is an important part of the American Dream," said Lynne Jensen, Centex's Vice President of Sales. "By owning a home you have the opportunity to put down roots, raise a family, and really become a part of the community."

With Centex on board, a three-way partnership was born with strong support from municipal leaders, including Mayor Bill Hargis.  "As the Twin Cities grows and expands, communities like Woodbury have experienced dramatic increases in population along with a need for a wide range of housing options.  Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has been an excellent partner and provider of affordable housing," said Mayor Hargis.

The TCHFH homes in Bailey's Arbor were scheduled for construction in three phases over three years, starting in 2005.  Centex offered generous in-kind discounts and donations of land, infrastructure and materials throughout the building process, and TCHFH was introduced to the pad-ready lot.  A "pad-ready lot" means that the platting (lot size, lot boundary and zoning classification) and infrastructure (street, sewer, water, gas and electric) is complete so that a building permit can be applied for and house construction can begin. 

During phase two of the Bailey's Arbor partnership, the pad-ready lot model was tried out when TCHFH constructed an eight-unit townhome, the largest building the organization has ever built.  Phase two was so successful that TCHFH decided to use this model again in its third and final phase. In March, 2007 TCHFH purchased eight pads from Centex, who again donated all of the infrastructure work up through the foundations of the building.  Construction is now in its early stages with volunteers onsite.

Twin Cities Habitat's success in Woodbury was also made possible through Washington County land acquisition funds, HUD support, corporate and faith based sponsorships, and TCHFH's significant volunteer base.

Throughout the Bailey's Arbor build process, TCHFH not only improved a partnership with a key national developer, it also learned better construction practices and perfected its pad-ready lot model.  Developing this model with Centex has helped TCHFH create further relationships with other developers.  Twin Cities Habitat is now building for the first time in suburban communities where Habitat homes are the only affordable homeownership options available to hard-working, low-income families.

For more information on TCHFH's build projects around the Twin Cities, please visit the new "Featured Developments" section of our website at: www.tchabitat.org

Contributed by Karl Batalden

Photo by Sharon Rolenc