Island Housing Trust Corporation

The Island Housing Trust (IHT) is a certified Community Development Corporation and Community Land Trust, who acquires and develops suitable properties for both ownership and rental housing by obtaining resources to build or rehabilitate the properties. IHT oversees the development process through completion of construction, and continues to own and ground lease the land with restrictions in the case of ownership housing and own and manage in the case of rental housing. The IHT utilizes a nationally recognized ground lease model with restrictions to keep homes permanently affordable. Ongoing support and stewardship services are offered to our homeowners and tenants. This hands-on approach helps safeguard against the threat of foreclosure and alerts IHT to possible financial difficulties.

Our Vision 2020 goal is to create 100 new homes by the end of 2020 to serve 300 working Islanders and their families. We are currently engaged in a Vision 2025 strategic planning process in order to continue to build on our exponential growth in the last four years.

The IHT utilizes a nationally recognized ground lease model with restrictions to keep homes permanently affordable. Ongoing support and stewardship services are offered to our homeowners and tenants. This hands-on approach helps safeguard against the threat of foreclosure and alerts IHT to possible financial difficulties.

IHT’s leveraged fundraising strategy successfully matches private donations with town and state grants in the form of soft debt.

IHT’s Make It Happen Fund is a low interest, short-term revolving line of credit totaling $1.85 million available from seven foundations and private individuals. The fund is used for property acquisition. Martha’s Vineyard Future Financing, a social impact investment fund launched in 2019, utilized a $1.8 million low-cost participation loan involving 5 private investors and MassHousing, serviced by the Martha’s Vineyard Bank, to pay-off six Make It Happen Fund investors to provide low-cost permanent financing for the Hanover House rental property.

We continue to partner with town governments to secure available land and Community Preservation Act grant funding, and explore new partnerships with private businesses and real estate developers, as well as non-profit organizations that have available land and/or financial resources for housing development.

IHT has a strong track record of leveraging municipal and state grant funding with private donations. IHT’s leveraged fundraising strategy has successfully raised a total of $2.6 million by matching town grants, private donations, and state grants in the form of soft debt in 2019. Building on two capital fundraising campaigns and the launching of a third in 2019, the Leadership Circle has grown to 23 members each pledging $100,000 or more over four years that has raised a total of $4 million in project funding.

As well, a successful partnership between public and private investors through IHT's Martha's Vineyard Future Financing, a social impact investment vehicle, included 7 foundations and individuals and MassHousing committing a total of $1.85 million in permanent financing, serviced by the Martha’s Vineyard Bank, for the Hanover House rental property that serves low to moderate health care workers at Martha's Vineyard Hospital.

Our capacity has increased as a result of securing a sixth consecutive year of Community Investment Tax Credits from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Those credits raised $360,000 in donations from 62 donors in 2019. In addition, our annual summer benefit brunch event raised $306,168 in working capital from 164 guests in 2019.

We also have a strong relationship with the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority (DCRHA), a state-chartered housing authority, which manages IHT’s 26 rental units under contract on 5 scattered site properties serving very low, low and moderate-income households. The DCRHA performs accounting functions for the property portfolio and provides wait list management, income qualification, and rent-up services in compliance with rental restrictions.

During 2019, we completed the repurposing or adaptive reuse of the Hanover House Inn at 28 Edgartown Road in Vineyard Haven into a 12-bedroom/bathroom shared housing or single room occupancy in the main house and 3 apartments in the accessory carriage house that ware leased to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for their low and moderate income employees. In addition, our development efforts have added 55 new housing units to our development pipeline that are in the planning, permitting or construction stages. Total net assets increased by 8% or $1,260,452 from $14,349,568 in 2018 to $15,610,022 in 2019. Construction began in 2019 and is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2020 for the renovation of an 8-bedroom inn called the Perlman House in Vineyard Haven into 7 rental apartments, the construction of 6 ownership townhouses within 3-duplexes on Greenwood Avenue in Vineyard Haven, and the repurposing of an existing house and guest house into three ownership homes on Daggett Avenue in Vineyard Haven.

Our future outlook is positive, given the momentum behind our Vision 2020, our growing housing production pipeline of over 30 units that are in predevelopment another 100 more likely prospects, the health of our rental property portfolio, and new initiatives and partnerships on the horizon.