Habitat Flathead breaking ground in Columbia Falls

Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley will build 11 new houses in Columbia Falls within the next two years. Habitat Flathead will break ground this month for a three-bedroom home on Third Avenue.   

Soon thereafter, Habitat will break ground on the corner of Sixth Avenue West and Eighth Street West for one four-bedroom, one three-bedroom, and two two-bedroom townhouses. Habitat Flathead plans to break ground on the six homes on the Railroad Street property in August.  

Habitat Flathead is currently taking applications for the four townhouses on Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street.  The deadline for these applications is April 15. To qualify for Habitat homeownership, applicants must be within 30% - 80% of the area median income, be willing to do 275 hours of sweat-equity to co-build their homes and demonstrate a need for better housing. For a one-person household, the qualifying income range is between $18,550 and $49,500.  

MaryBeth Morand, executive director of Habitat Flathead, estimates that the cost per home will be under $400,000 depending on the number of bedrooms.   

“Habitat Flathead had to buy the land on the open market to build these townhouses, so they are not as attractively priced as the homes we build on donated land,” Morand said. “However, they will be available quickly and these homes are still far less expensive than comparable units in today’s real estate market.”   

In addition to lower priced homes, Habitat Flathead homeowners can access 30 year, 2% fixed-rate mortgages through the Montana Board of Housing.  

Habitat Flathead will begin taking applications for the six homes to be built on the Railroad Street property in May 2025.  

Applicants can access the application at habitatflathead.org/homeownership and send queries to [email protected].