Nonprofits Habitat for Humanity and Northwest Community Land Trust collaborate on affordable housing units in Kalispell

Kalispell will soon see two new affordable housing units go up within walking distance of its downtown.  

Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley in partnership with the Northwest Community Land Trust broke ground last month on a duplex-style townhouse at the corner of Seventh Street and Ninth Avenue West.  

Each of the units in the duplex will be fitted with two bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms and conjoining garages, according to organizers behind the effort. 

The partnership is a first for the two nonprofits, according to Kim Morisaki, executive director of the land trust, which typically refurbishes homes on donated land.  

Already the owner of 52 lots in Kalispell, the trust received the land for its latest project from a private donor. As in past projects, the trust will own the property while the house will come under ownership of the resident, said Morisaki.  

Removing the cost of the land from the home will help keep it affordable, as will aid from Habitat for Humanity volunteers, said Marybeth Morand, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley 

Most of the construction is being done by a group of 15 to 20 volunteers that have helped expedite construction, Morand said, who hopes to see the homes completed by April. She expects the units to go for between $250,000 to $300,000. 

“We’re using new technology, and we have really energy efficient homes,” Morand said.  

Her organization is nearing four to five houses built a year.  

The median household price for townhouses in Kalispell this year was $397,000, according to data from the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors. It was $253,000 four years ago. The median price for single-family homes was around $575,000 in 2024, up from around $358,000 in 2020.  

Applications closed in August, but to be eligible, prospective homeowners had to earn 30% to 80% of the area median income among a variety of other requirements, including being a resident of Flathead County. Morand said she received 12 applications, and recipients are still being decided.  

According to data from the government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae, Kalispell’s area median income in 2024 was $88,400. Eighty percent of the area median income would mean $70,720 and 30% would mean $26,520.  

Habitat homeowners take out a 30-year mortgage through the Montana Board of Housing at a fixed interest rate of 2%.  

“I’m really dedicated to having a pool of affordable housing in perpetuity,” Morand said. “We got to take a long-term view of what’s best for the Flathead.” 

“If we want young families and young [professionals], to live and work in our community, we have to be able to make sure there are houses for them to grow their families and invest for their future,” Morisaki said.  

If the homeowners decide to eventually resell the home, the land trust ensures it will not be flipped and will be resold under market price, either through buying the house back up or approving the next homeowner. 

People who buy the houses agree to resell for 100% of what they paid originally, plus 25% of however much the house had increased value while they owned it, Morisaki said.   

The land trust began buying up land and revitalizing abandoned and foreclosed homes in 2009 after receiving $4 million through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. In 2011 it received $1.5 million for the same purpose, according to the organization's website. 

Habitat Flathead with the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust will also be collaborating on two housing projects in Columbia Falls. One being a three-to–five-bedroom single family home, depending on the family size, and a seven-unit affordable housing lot on Railroad Street.  

Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com or 406-758-4407. 

    A crew from Hardcore Concrete finishes the concrete foundation of Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley's Kalispell Townhome Project at Seventh Street West and Ninth Avenue West in Kalispell on Tuesday, Oct. 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider