About Us
The WRCHT was formed to develop, acquire, own and manage multi-family rental units throughout the Wood River Valley. Units will be rented to qualified local residents who are actively working and living in the Wood River Valley. The targeted income level is 80-140% of AMI and targeted rent is equal to 30% of a household’s gross income.
Our Story
The Wood River Community Housing Trust, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, grew out of years of discussions between two of its co-founders, Steve Shafran and Tim Wolff. Tim and Steve have been active in the Wood River Valley for years, including with Ketchum City Council, SVMOA, The Community School & Spur. Though busy with these and other endeavors, the shortage of affordable workforce housing and its threat to the community’s well-being has been a source of concern to both.
In the summer of 2021, as population growth dramatically increased the average rent in the valley, they knew it was time to address the housing challenge head on. To fulfill this mission, Mark Edlen and Mary Wilson were added to the team and the Housing Trust was formed. After assessing the issue and the already-available resources, a strategy was developed: They would focus on the “Missing Middle”. These essential workers are employed full-time, but earn too much to qualify for federally subsidized “affordable” housing and do not earn enough for the available market units. Using a unique and creative capital structure, The Trust has found a scalable way to deliver housing to the Wood River Valley’s Missing Middle at rents materially below market and to tie those rents to income, not to the market rental growth. The Housing Trust believes this structure is one tool that will help to solve this problem in our community.
Wood River Community Housing Trust is committed to creating housing supply to support the health of our valley. Please join us.
