The Bloomington-Normal Community Land Trust [BNCLT] has secured its first home and started the next steps to find a buyer.
Since opening applications on July 22, the nonprofit has had 28 applicants interested in the home at 1309 Eastholme Drive, just north of Illinois Route 9 between Illinois Wesleyan University and Bloomington High School.
It's the first of what the organization believes will be many homes it will acquire to help address a shortage of affordable housing in the community.
“It shows the city and the town and our community that there is a serious affordable housing demand,” BNCLT president Mark Adams said on WGLT's Sound Ideas. “Within two weeks, a grassroots organization with no paid staff could basically find 28 people to house.”
With over 300 land trusts in the country, Adams noted the concept is nothing new, but it’s the first in the Bloomington-Normal area.
Adams said the simple process allows for BNCLT to lower the cost of the house by owning the land through a ground lease. Here's how it works. While future residents will not be able to flip the house, they will receive all equity put into the home and could get up to a 20% profit margin on the home depending on the market.
“That's really the main limitation. [They] still do with the home what they want. If they want to paint it different colors or install something new, they are more than welcome to do that,” Adams said.
The next steps for the BNCLT is a three-month rehab of the home, in which they plan to put an additional $20,000 into the house purchased for $152,000. After the rehab, the land trust plans on selling the home for between $115,000 and $125,000.
Securing this first home allows BNCLT to demonstrate how the model works and that it can work, Adams explained.
“We were really blessed and fortunate to get this house because we need a pilot. We need proof of concept,” Adams said.
Since forming in 2023, the land trust has done fundraisers, volunteer labor and received grants and donations to raise enough money to accomplish its vision of purchasing a home by 2026. The BNCLT has raised $53,000 in individual donations from local residents and an additional $10,000 from the Growmark Foundation since March 2025.
“It takes a village,” vice president Georgene Chissell said. “This is a community thing. We’ve [had] so many volunteers over the three years… people are just in on this with us. They believe in this and I think that's not going to stop.”
During the rehab and after pre-applications close at the end of the month, BNCLT and the potential homeowners will begin going through the application process. To purchase the home, the buyer needs to be a resident of Bloomington-Normal for at least a year and must earn between 60% and 100% of the area median income.
The applicants will then have a two-step process to complete by attending the BNCLT homebuyers orientation and a budgeting workshop. After those September duties are finished, formal applications open during the first week of October.
“We're going to look at first-come, first-serve. If whoever is submitting a formal application has done everything right and they fit within our income and our household size fit for this home, we'll look at that application and if that's the right fit and they are qualified, then we'll move forward,” Adams said.
The BNCLT plans to continue buying homes and selling them for a lower price following its first purchase. A state grant of $150,000 has given the nonprofit more comfortability in reaching its goals of purchasing and selling one house every year.
“That's going to allow us to at least have some funding in the pipeline for our second and third home,” Adams said. “There is a very realistic chance that we could average a home a year at this rate and that's our hope without paid staff.”
The nonprofit plans to continue fundraising and its community home improvement program projects on a quarterly basis. The projects include staining decks, power washing and yard work. The land trust will offer the future homeowner of BNCLT’s newly purchased home a day of free volunteer labor on a quarterly basis as well.
BNCLT’s next fundraising event is a fashion show set for Sep. 26 at the Chateau entitled Boots on the Ground, Denim & Diamonds. The first part of the name was inspired by what the land trust represents: the Twin Cities' first land trust that aims to add more affordable housing in the area.
“People keep asking, "What is that? That's us. That's the land trust. We are the boots on the ground,” Chissell said. “Our theme is denim and diamonds and we're gonna have a beautiful fashion show… It's like Texas meets Paris. So people are gonna be in their denim and their glitter and their rhinestones and cowboy boots.”
Early bird tickets and additional information on the homebuyer application process can be found at blonoclt.org.
