Des Moines announced in late April that construction on the first three homes of an affordable housing program is nearly complete.
The Central Iowa Community Land Trust is working on expanding permanent affordable housing with the new homes being built in the Columbus Park, Highland Park and Oak Park neighborhoods in Des Moines. The land trust is a nonprofit that was created in collaboration with Des Moines, West Des Moines and Polk County in 2024 — and it’s unique in Iowa.
A community land trust builds homes with private or public investment. The trust sells the homes to low-income buyers, but continues to own the land. The whole process, including reselling the home to the next buyer, goes through the land trust. That keeps the home sale outside of the traditional market and helps maintain the affordability of the homes…