Building a Community Housing Land Trust

Kyle Chandler-Isacksen could be considered a visionary jack-of-all trades. We’ve featured him on Our Town Reno previously, helping with community murals, composting and garlic festivals. He also runs the non-profit Be The Change Reno, an urban learning space dedicated to service, sustainability, and community uplift. Now, he’s built a house which has been placed in a community land trust, an economic model designed to lower the cost of owning a home.

He used locally sourced and milled lumber as the siding of the home, giving it a unique log cabin feel. His wife, Katie, established an organic garden, just steps from the spacious front porch.

The two-bedroom home is an experiment to create affordable housing and home ownership a reality for low-income families. The cost of the land is taken out of the home price and put into a trust to keep the cost of home ownership down. Isacksen believes “it's part of a broader solution” as the community struggles with an affordable and accessible housing crisis.

The reporter for this episode is Richard Bednarski.