On Tuesday, Sept. 27, eight new homeowners moved into their homes, built by themselves and Community Rebuilds, in the Moab Area Community Land Trust subdivision Arroyo Crossing.
“I’m super excited to start a more permanent life in Moab,” said Bridget Petersen, who works at Arches National Park. Some of the homeowners weren’t planning on fully moving into their homes until the weekend following Sept. 27, or until their leases finished; Petersen planned to bring in a sofa that night. Her home is warm and lovely, with a custom tile backsplash in the kitchen she was particularly proud of.
Arroyo Crossing has been in the works for years—the subdivision land is owned and managed by the Moab Area Community Land Trust, a nonprofit that aims to develop permanent affordable housing in Moab. In 2017, 41 acres of land were donated to MACLT, allowing the nonprofit to begin planning Arroyo Crossing, which eventually will encompass nearly 300 affordable housing units. The homes are and will be deed-restricted, allowing only families that earn up to 120% of the area median income (the AMI is $56,000 per household; 120% would be around $68,000). Owners can only resell to local residents who will use the home as their primary residence, and since the land trust owns the land, the homes will be significantly cheaper than the area’s average.
Early this year, MACLT hired Kaitlin Myers as its executive director—Myers served on the board of the land trust since its beginning.
“It feels unreal,” she said. “It was a big day for CR and for MACLT [watching homeowners move in]. I’ve been involved with MACLT since before we got the land donation, so I’ve seen it every step of the way, and to see the years of work pay off … it was all worth it. I cried. It was pretty surreal.”
Currently, MACLT is working with a number of developers at Arroyo Crossing: Community Rebuilds, a nonprofit building natural houses in Moab; the Housing Authority of Southeastern Utah, which provides affordable housing options to moderate and low-income families in Grand and San Juan counties; and the Utah Housing Corporation, which will build rental cottages in Arroyo Crossing for moderate-income households.
Things are moving quickly at Arroyo Crossing now: another developer has broken ground along Bonnie’s Way, one of the roads in the subdivision, and plans to build 12 twin homes. HASU was also recently awarded a Tax Credit Award to help fund a 32-unit apartment complex, which will house low-income individuals.
“We’re plugging along,” Myers said. She estimates that most of the single-family homes will be finished by the end of next year, the twin homes and cottages will likely be up by early 2024, and the apartments are expected to break ground next fall.
After that, there will be an 84-unit apartment complex and commercial building—Myers said she and the MACLT board are thinking about putting a daycare there—that will go up sometime in the next five to seven years.
With the eight homes finished and more in the works, Arroyo Crossing is truly starting to look like a neighborhood, Myers said.
“I think this place is going to change so much,” she said.
