A Fairbanks nonprofit is hoping to transform blighted or vacant private properties into long-term rentals through a new grant program.
Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services announced the launch of the program on Monday. It reimburses successful applicants up to $50,000 dollars for construction or repairs at eligible properties, which owners must agree to rent at or below Fair Market Rent for five years.
A 20% match is also required, and applicants must complete the projects within 18 months of signing an agreement.
Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services Executive Director Nadine Winters says planning for the program has been in the works for years.
“We actually kind of stole the idea from Vermont. With some of their post-COVID money, they started a program that was very similar to this. So then, since then, I’ve been trying to raise enough money so that we could give it a try here in Fairbanks,” she said.
Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services secured $2 million for the program. Half of that came from congressionally directed spending, and Winters said the other half came from the Rasmuson Foundation.
The program targets properties that are abandoned, uninhabitable or in poor enough condition to be a public nuisance. Qualifying projects can aim to rehab existing structures, convert non-residential buildings or construct new, accessory dwelling units.
Winters said her organization’s goal is two-fold.
“Our hope is that we’re going to gain units – you know, quality, rental units – and then kind of clean up some blight at the same time,” she said.
Winters said the program dovetails with the city government’s recent focus on securing vacant properties and getting rid of blighted ones. For now, the program is restricted to properties within city limits, but a Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services news release says it could expand to include the whole Fairbanks North Star Borough if it’s successful.
A 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development qualified the housing sales market around the Fairbanks area as “tight,” and its rental market as “slightly tight.”
That was the same year that the final F-35s landed at Eielson Air Force Base, a process that saw about 3,500 active duty airmen and dependents move to Interior Alaska.
Although, in years since that federal report, state data has shown long-term rental vacancy rates to be increasing in the Fairbanks area, going from 7% in 2022 to 12% last year.
But community and military leadership have stressed that future personnel changes could affect the housing market. And the addition of four KC-135 tankers at Eielson is expected to bring 220 servicemembers, plus their families, to the region.