New Post Falls community celebrates completion of affordable housing project

Amid balmy 70-degree temperatures Saturday afternoon, a newly built attainable housing development celebrated its grand finale with its first major block party. 

As the aroma of hot dogs and burgers filled the air, first-time homeowners like Casey Doyle shared how the Miracle on Britton has changed lives. 

“A person can bring out an RC car, a kite, a new bike and a kiddie pool, and the cul-de-sac fills with neighbors just because,” she said. “Where a Fourth of July party stretches into the small morning hours because the company is still good even after the fireworks are spent.” 

Camden Best said the American Dream is still alive.

"Very much so. It can be done,” he said. "Before this happened, I wasn’t really sure where I was gonna go.”

Led by Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance Executive Director Maggie Lyons, the projected $6.5 million starter-home development was funded through a specialized public-private partnership. Substantial donations and successful fundraising campaigns led to 28 shared-equity, deed-restricted houses proposed for a 4.7-acre parcel in Post Falls.

According to PHAHA, the homes are strictly designated for buyers within a specific middle-income bracket. This historically targets local workers earning roughly 90% to 120% of the area median income. The houses, reserved for households making between $75,000 and $126,000, are priced between $290,000 and $430,000.

Construction on Miracle on Britton, just past Post Falls High School, began in January 2025. Saturday marked the final screw, the final panel, placed on the subdivision’s final house.

“To our homeowners, thank you for trusting us. That was the biggest part,” Lyons said. “Everyone who trusted us to enter into a contract to build a home, we’re so grateful that we were able to walk alongside you. It was a privilege.”

Lyons added, “You’re hardworking; you deserve a chance to own a home, put down roots and build a future.”

She said there’s still more to do, however.

“We need several thousand of these types of homes every single year,” Lyons said. “It’s an astronomical task.”  

The homes are built on individual 5,000-square-foot plots. They line Britton Road, which intersects N. Greensferry Road, and a new park sits nearby.

Jason Webb is a community and technical assistance principal at the Grounded Solutions Network, a Massachusetts-based national nonprofit that promotes long-term affordable housing. The organization helped facilitate financial support for Miracle on Britton.

Webb flew in from the Northeast to sing the development’s praises. 

“This right here is now going to be our model as we think about doing this all throughout the United States,” he said of Post Falls’ newest neighborhood. “You guys have done something I have not seen in doing 40 years of this work.” 

The city of Post Falls provided cost-reduction incentives to lower development hurdles for the Miracle on Britton project.

Post Falls Mayor Randy Westlund attended Saturday’s event, which drew about 60 people to the neighborhood cul-de-sac. He said the new subdivision is a “great example of how we can achieve attainable housing in our community.”

“It’s critical to our economic culture because we’re keeping young families here where they grew up and want to stay," he said. "It's a shame when folks have to leave their hometown to go somewhere else because there’s nowhere for them to live.” 

Westlund also praised the organizations that made the neighborhood possible, which provides homes for 29 children.

“I think they’ve put in a phenomenal amount of work,” he said. “They’re trying to create a new model because this is something that hasn’t been done before here, so it’s really great to see it be successful.”

    Casey Doyle, a new homeowner in the Miracle on Britton neighborhood in Post Falls, speaks during the celebration of the neighborhood's official completion on Saturday. At Doyle's left is Aimie Pace.
  

    Aimie Pace introduces Camden Best, a new homeowner at the Miracle on Britton neighborhood in Post Falls, during a Saturday celebration of the subdivision's completion.
  

    Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance Executive Director Maggie Lyons speaks on Saturday.