The Dakota Land Trust, which incorporated last August, announced Friday it has received a $300,000 grant from the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, which will be used to buy land as part of a new affordable housing effort in western South Dakota communities.

"This grant represents the start of something big for all of those Black Hills residents who hold dear the seemingly elusive dream of home ownership," trust director Joy McCracken said. "In an age of skyrocketing land prices and a meltdown in the mortgage industry, the Dakota Land Trust is now well on its way toward helping our regional work force secure decent, safe and affordable housing on a long-term basis."

The trust was created in 2007 through Deadwood-based Neighborhood Housing Services of the Black Hills, with the support of community leaders throughout the area.

Under its plan, the trust will acquire and hold land. Through partnerships, homes put on the land will be sold to qualified homebuyers. Exclusive use of the land is conveyed to individual homeowners via a 99-year lease that is assignable to their heirs and is renewable at the end of the lease term.

The less-than-market-rate homes will be sold to families with limited incomes. When a family sells the home, they sell the house to another family with limited income, and Dakota Land Trust continues to own and lease the land.

Malcom Chapman, president of the trust board, said the land trust helps make sure the land stays affordable. No land has yet been acquired, but the trust is working with developers and is also embarked on an education campaign to tell people what the trust is and what it's trying to do.

"We're still somewhat in the infancy stages of this," Chapman said.

The ground lease allows the homeowner secure, long-term rights to use the land and full responsibility for the property. It is renewable and can be transferred to a family's heirs.

The DLT hopes to be able to help more than 100 families own homes during the next three years - something they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford at market price.

In addition to the state grant, the land trust has also received a $300,000 commitment from Black Hills Vision, a regional economic development organization, to help support the trust.

"The Dakota Land Trust is designed to assist potential homeowners in securing a residence, providing assistance after their purchase, encouraging family-friendly neighborhoods, and promoting a mix of land uses and types of housing in scattered-site projects," McCracken said. "This innovative program is based on the success of so many other regions of the U.S. that face the challenges of growth while preserving the opportunity to own an affordable home."

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com