About Us >Press Info >Timeline |
Orcas Island, Washington |
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Timeline of Events for OPAL Community Land Trust |
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July 1988 Thirty-five people gather to talk about rising land values and their concern about the loss of community on Orcas Island. May 1989 OPAL Community Land Trust is incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Washington State. April 1990 Volunteers secure the first grants from the Washington State Housing Trust Fund for $300,000 and from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program for $80,000. These funds enable OPAL to purchase its first parcel of land and build 18 homes. May 1990 OPAL’s trustees purchase the organization’s first parcel of land—seven acres in Eastsound that become Opal Commons. Fall 1991 The all-volunteer board hires the organization’s first staff person, who serves as both executive director and project manager. Spring 1993 The USDA Farmer’s Home Loan Program designates the Opal Commons project as a Demonstration Project, thereby making OPAL the first community land trust in the nation to secure mortgage financing from this federal agency. Spring 1993 Site work begins on the Opal Commons site. June 1993 Construction begins on the Opal Commons homes. June 1994 Opal Commons is completed–-the last of 18 homeowners settle into their homes. May 1995 The Fannie Mae Foundation awards Opal Commons an Honorable Mention in its Maxwell Awards for Excellence. Feb 1995 The Washington State Housing Trust Fund awards $490,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to purchase OPAL’s second property. Sept 1995 OPAL buys the organization’s second property that becomes the Bonnie Brae neighborhood and the site for the Reddick apartments and offices. 1996 The Federal Home Loan Bank awards a $120,000 grant for the Bonnie Brae neighborhood, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation awards a $475,000 construction loan, and the County Commissioners approve the property’s subdivision. Fall 1997 After many delays due to changes in federal guidelines for mortgage financing, work moves ahead on the Bonnie Brae site: the road is installed and horses are used to remove trees from house sites. Washington State awards the project a combined loan and grant of $650,000. Feb 1998 Telling Our Stories, a photo exhibit with stories of Opal Commons homeowners is displayed at Orcas Center. June 1998 Construction begins on Bonnie Brae homes. April 1999 Representatives from community land trusts getting started in various locations throughout the Pacific Northwest attend a conference hosted by the Institute for Community Economics in St. Paul, Minnesota and decide to meet again in November on Vashon Island. These are the first two of what become bi-annual meetings and evolve into the Northwest Community Land Trust Coalition. July 1999 The last of the 24 Bonnie Brae homeowners move into their homes. Oct 1999 Telling Our Stories photo exhibit is published as a color booklet titled Of People And Land: Telling Our Stories, Building Homes, Creating Community. Spring 2001 OPAL collaborates with the Orcas Island School District and the Orcas Family Resource Center to complete the first statistically valid survey of housing needs on Orcas Island. July 2001 OPAL purchases and renovates the first two “scattered site” homes—houses that already exist on separate parcels. One house is in Eastsound, the other in Olga. This is the first OPAL home outside the village of Eastsound. Aug 2001 OPAL purchases 2.8 acres off North Beach Road in Eastsound, a portion of which becomes the Oberon Wood neighborhood of five single-family homes, and a portion of which is reserved for the future development of six additional homes. June 2002 OPAL advertises for individuals interested in purchasing and removing for reuse the historic Reddick farmhouse, on the site of the future Reddick apartments and offices. The building is too deteriorated, and no one comes forward to take it. Oct 2002 Five Oberon Wood homes arrive and are completed on site. These are OPAL’s first modular houses—buildings constructed in a factory in accordance with the Unified Building Code (the same code used for “stick-built” construction on-site). Oct 2002 Site work commences on the Reddick property. Underground utilities and the new driveway are installed and the old farmhouse is demolished to make way for a new building that will very closely resemble the historic building. March 2003 OPAL CLT, Lopez CLT and the San Juan Community Home Trust are awarded a three-year grant of $75,000 per year to develop joint programming and increase the production of affordable housing in San Juan County. The collaborative effort becomes the Community Land Trust Alliance of the San Juan Islands. May 2003 Construction on the Reddick campus of four buildings begins. Oct 2003 The CLT Alliance of the San Juan Islands completes a statistically valid assessment of housing needs and attitudes towards affordable housing in San Juan County. Jan 2004 OPAL moves into its new permanent office space on the Reddick property. Mar 2004 The rest of the Reddick buildings are complete, and OPAL welcomes its first residential rental tenants. Sep 2004 A lot in Eastsound on Madrona Street is donated to OPAL–the first developable lot to be donated (two new homes constructed and complete in 2006).
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OPAL Community Land Trust | |||