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Habitat for Humanity to build townhouses in Gaithersburg

By Jen Bondeson,March 28, 2012

For 19 families, the dirt that flew from 10 golden shovels on Saturday will eventually mean hopes realized and dreams come true, said John Paukstis, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County.

The groundbreaking, staged on three acres at Emory Grove and Strawberry Knoll roads in Gaithersburg, celebrated the start of the nonprofit organizations’s most expensive project yet — building a $4.4 million, 19-townhouse, low-income community called Maple Hill.

“We want to help people who want to live in our community — with hopes and dreams — to have a place to live,” Paukstis said to a crowd of more than 60 people at the groundbreaking.

The nonprofit group will build three three-story buildings with townhouses, each with 1,400 square feet of living space, three bedrooms and 2 ¹/₂baths.

Construction is set to begin this summer and be completed in 18 months, Paukstis said. About 110 applications have been submitted, but residents have not yet been selected.

Montgomery Habitat has not taken on a project of this size since building Linganore Woods from 2005 to 2008. Linganore Woods is a $3.8 million, 24-townhouse, low-income community in Burtonsville.

In its 25 years, the organization has also built and renovated single homes and condominiums, rehabilitated 13 vacant, foreclosed properties and weatherized homes.

Those making less than 60 percent of the county’s average household income, which ranges from $38,196 to $73,849 based on household size, may be eligible to live in Maple Hill. Future residents also must put in between 200 and 500 volunteer hours for Habitat and be able to afford the $200,000 or $300,000 zero-interest mortgage, Paukstis said.

The project has been in the works for nearly four years, said Jim Clifford, a Gaithersburg-based attorney who represented the previous owners, the Jackson family, in the sale of the land. The family had financial troubles and needed to sell the land, he said.

Clifford said he approached Habitat because the family could not find buyers who were interested in the land, or the nearly $500,000 in impact taxes that came with it. Because it is affordable housing, Maple Hill is exempt from impact taxes, which a developer must pay before a building permit is issued.

Habitat will raise funds and attempt to obtain “house sponsors” to cover the $230,000 cost of each house. One house has been sponsored so far, by Habitat ReStore.

Contractors will be hired to do some site work, and volunteers will do the rest, said Sarah Reddinger, Habitat project manager. Volunteer work saves Habitat about $500,000 annually.

The development will be more than just new buildings in the city, Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz said Saturday.

“We know that together, we are not just building homes, we are saving lives,” he said.