Wendy Cullinan, left, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod, presents Elaine McIlroy, chairwoman of the Wellfleet Housing Authority, with the Community Partner Award for 2020. McIlroy accepted the award on behalf of the town of Wellfleet.
By Denise Coffey / dcoffey@capecodonline.com
WELLFLEET — The first Habitat for Humanity home built on Cape Cod was built in Wellfleet and dedicated in November 1989.
Elaine McIlroy, chairwoman of the Wellfleet Housing Authority, has always been proud to point that out. She’s been an advocate for affordable housing efforts for more than a decade.
On Friday, she accepted Habitat’s Community Partner Award on behalf of the town. Select Board Chairman Michael DeVasto will formally accept the award at a virtual Zoom meeting on Oct. 1, when Habitat holds its annual meeting.
“The town has been very generous,” Habitat Executive Director Wendy Cullinan said.
Money from the Wellfleet Housing Authority, as well as local Community Preservation Act funding, helped secure the property and fund early construction of the latest Habitat homes in Wellfleet. The two-bedroom and three-bedroom LEED-certified homes, complete with solar panels, were built on Durkee Lane.
Owners of the homes will close on the properties this week.
“All our interactions with the town were so supportive,” Cullinan said.
The two homes bring the total number of Habitat Homes in Wellfleet to seven. The Housing Authority awarded a contract to Habitat to build four homes on a parcel of land off Old Kings Highway, but that project is on hold. Abutters have filed a lawsuit against the issuance of a building permit.
The shortage of affordable housing on the Cape is well documented. According to Habitat for Humanity, the Cape has higher than average housing prices and lower than average wages, creating a wide “affordability gap” that promises to get bigger with real estate sales spiking since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That spells more challenges for a cadre of workers who keep the tourist economy running, care for aging residents and do a host of other essential jobs that pay relatively poorly.
“We’ve been reading headlines about homes selling faster than ever,” McIlroy said. “We’re so quickly removing homes from the potential market for rentals, and we’re driving up prices.”
Median home prices in Wellfleet are $596,101 according to the real estate website Zillow. Wellfleet home values have gone up 1.5% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 3.6% in 2021.
A three-bedroom Habitat home on Cape Cod costs a homeowner an average of $146,250, with monthly payments between $650 and $800 per month. The homes in Wellfleet cost Habitat about $175,000 to build because of solar panels built onto the roofs.
McIlroy called Habitat the only entity on the Cape willing to build just a few homes at a time for ownership.
“Habitat has this amazing model to build beautiful homes using high quality materials, with volunteer labor and generous donors,” she said. “Habitat has people who believe in what they do.”
Habitat received 45 applications for the two Wellfleet homes.
Cullinen called the discrepancy between wages and housing costs outrageous.
“Affordable housing needs to be on everyone’s minds,” she said.
Wellfleet voters approved a $3.8 million water system upgrade at town meeting Sept. 6. The project could make it feasible for the town to build 46 units of affordable housing on Lawrence Road.
Another parcel of land was given to the housing authority at last year’s town meeting. McIlroy said the housing authority is trying to acquire more land, through purchase or donation, before they send out a request for proposals for a developer to build one or a few homes.
Ideally, Habitat would bid on the project, she said.
Wellfleet Affordable Housing 