Reaching for 'attainable housing' in Kootenai County

COEUR d’ALENE — The housing crisis that left workers scrambling for a place to live in Sun Valley did not happen overnight, said Maggie Lyons, executive director of the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance. 

“It is a slow wrecking ball,” she told about 100 people at the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber’s housing forum Tuesday. “We have the opportunity to not have that happen here.” 

“Miracle on Britton" will help. 

The future neighborhood off Greensferry Road, planned by PAHA with local builders, offers deed-restricted, shared-equity homes reserved for households earning about $75,000-$126,000. Home prices will be around $290,000-$430,000.

“It’s a game changer for us,” Lyons said at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn.  

That’s a good start, but there is still work to do to achieve “attainable housing."

With the median price of a Kootenai County single-family home at $526,000, many local families are priced out of the market as prices soared during COVID. Businesses have said they are losing workers because they can’t afford to live here, and some have said sons and daughters have left in search of lower home prices.

But the battle is not lost.

“Standing together and uplifting each other, we can make great things happen,” said Jennifer Smock, co-owner and managing broker with Windermere Real Estate in Post Falls. “Today is perfect evidence of that.” 

Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson said the city knows there needs to be a supply of housing for those moving here, and that housing prices are too high. 

He said the city is doing what it can so houses for middle-class families are available. In the past year, he said, the city approved ordinances allowing cottage homes and tiny homes, but that raises density concerns. 

Post Falls City Councilman Joe Malloy agreed.

He said hearings on high-density housing projects generally draw opposition. 

“They just don’t want the people," Malloy said.

Jacobson said the city can consider lowering fees associated with housing, but “in my mind, the best thing we can do is not to be a roadblock." 

Malloy said he often hears people lament that Post Falls is losing its small-town feel and is becoming too crowded.

Ironically, newcomers have told him, “We moved here to get away from that stuff."

Harold Hopkins, construction manager at Viking Homes, said with rising costs of land, construction and infrastructure, “It’s getting tougher all the time” to have an attainable housing market.

“Everybody that has 5 acres thinks they have a goldmine and they want $100,000 an acre. That's not a joke,” he said. 

Hopkins said Viking is building homes that start at $450,000 and under, and will do its best to provide houses in that price range, despite climbing costs.

“We still feel we can do it,” he said. 

Dave Nerren, general manager at Architerra Homes, said they are doing their best to provide attainable housing. 

“It is tough," he said.

But he said he was encouraged by the group in the room.

"We're all better together, and we can do this together,” Nerren said.  

Hayden Anderl, a real estate agent representing Daum Construction, said the company offers incentives to encourage affordable housing and has a number of plans in the Rathrum area where homes are under $450,000 and the least expensive is under $400,000. 

“That's really difficult to do,” he said.

Anderl said there is an “antigrowth sentiment” in the area that has made some proposed developments difficult and even stopped them in some cities. He said he wished people understood that comes at a cost.

“By not approving projects, you’re just making everybody's housing prices go up,” Anderl said. 

Nerren said when he was growing up, he was told owning a house is the American dream. 

“It still is,” he said. 

Home ownership changes communities and families for the better, Nerren said. 

“It’s important.” he said. 

    People listen during the Coeur d'Alene Regional Chamber's housing forum at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn on Tuesday.