Community Frameworks, a Spokane-based nonprofit, has received a $6.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that it plans to distribute through a network of 40 organizations in four states to help low-income people buy affordable housing.

The grant awarded through HUD's Self-Help Homeownership Opportunities Program (SHOP) provides $15,000 per affordable housing unit to buy land and build infrastructure over the next three years, says Chris Venne, development finance manager for Community Frameworks.

"That takes 10 percent off the price of a home if the average price is $150,000," Venne says.

The SHOP grant will assist in developing 376 homes though low-income housing nonprofits in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon—including at least 60 homes in the Spokane area—to serve families that earn less than 80 percent of the median county household income, Venne says.

The funds only can be used for developing houses in which families contribute at least 100 hours of labor toward the construction of their homes, Venne says. Such "sweat equity" includes assisting in painting, carpentry, trim work, and installing drywall and siding.

Community Frameworks, through its HomeStarts division that oversees construction of affordable new homes, plans to build 20 to 25 homes a year in the Spokane area with SHOP grant funding assistance, Venne says.

HomeStarts' current and planned Spokane-area developments include Valley Pointe and portions of Greenfield Estates and Takoda Park.

Valley Pointe is a 30-unit townhouse project being planned at the southwest corner of Appleway Boulevard and University Road, in Spokane Valley. Living units there will have two or three bedrooms and will range from 1,100 to 1,300 square feet of floor space, plus a single-car garage, says John Fisher, HomeStarts program manager.

Community Frameworks is acting as its own contractor on the $3.5 million project, and Zeck Butler Architects PS, of Spokane, designed it.

The project will have three six-unit structures and three fourplexes on 2.5 acres of land that will include a small community park, Fisher says. Construction is expected to start next fall, and Community Frameworks is seeking qualified applicants to participate in the project. Sales prices for each unit likely will range from the upper $130,000s to the mid-$140,000s, he says.

At Takoda Park, Community Frameworks is developing 24 ranch-style single-family homes near the southeast corner of Thomas Mallen and Hallett roads, about a mile east of the Medical Lake interchange on the south side of Interstate 90.

Houses under development there range from 1,200 to 1,400 square feet of floor space on lots averaging 6,000 square feet, Fisher says. They have three or four bedrooms and attached two-car garages.

Prices range from $150,000 to $165,000, which puts the project value at more than $3.6 million.

Community Frameworks also is developing a 36-lot phase of Greenfield Estates near Francis Avenue and Havana Street in which five lots are still available for qualified low-income families.

The development has five house styles ranging from three-bedroom ranch-style to five-bedroom split-level designs.

"They are modest, but well-constructed," Venne says.