Thanks to the combined efforts of Draper City and Ivory Homes, city and school district employees may be able to realize the dream of home ownership, even in a city as expensive as Draper. The Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation (CCIF) has made seven housing units available for sale at cost and Draper City is contributing $100,000 per unit to buy down the prices using Community Reinvestment Agency (CRA) funds. 

“This is an amazing contribution by the Ivorys,” Mayor Troy Walker said. 

Qualified applicants must be full-time employees in good standing and having completed their employment probationary period. Combined annual income for buyers is capped at 80-120% of the Salt Lake County household median and takes into consideration the number of family members and size of the housing unit. For example, a four-person family would have an average income of $96,000-$144,000 to qualify for a three-bedroom unit according to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards. 

“I think we’ll have some interest, and I think we have a good number of employees that might fall within that income range,” said Assistant City Manager Kellie Challburg. The city’s CRA funds come from developers and are managed by the city for the purpose of affordable housing. 

The program has several stipulations to ensure the homes are bought and sold as intended. The homes are restricted to 4% appreciation per year, so if the buyer sells in three years, their profit is limited to 12%. 

“Someone can’t just sell it and make a huge windfall,” Challburg said. No agent commissions are allowed and the homes are deed restricted for 50 years meaning they’ll stay in the affordable housing pool beyond their first owner. A 5% down payment is required and the interest rate has been arranged to be about 5.6%. Draper City also holds first right of refusal to repurchase the homes. 

“If they were to sell, the city would have the opportunity to buy it back first to sell it to another city employee,” Challburg said. The city will use nonprofit Housing Preservation Fund to prescreen potential applicants.

The first three homes for sale through the program will be available in early April with the other four available in December 2025 or January 2026. “We’re rolling out three right away which will go to city employees first,” Challburg said. If there isn’t enough interest among city employees, Challburg said they’ll open it up to the school district. It has yet to be determined how the seven total homes will be shared between city and school district employees, whether a 5/2 or 4/3 split. 

“April is going to come quickly,” Challburg said. 

Two of the first three homes available in April have a market price of $575,000 discounted $45,000 by CCIF and another $100,000 by Draper City, for a sale price of $430,000. The third home is slightly bigger and more expensive because it has a finished basement. It would sell for $580,000 but is discounted to $475,0000. 

The homes are in Ivory’s Big Willow subdivision located at approximately 11400 S. 540 West. The neighborhood is a mix of townhomes and freestanding homes, many of which are rentals owned and managed by Ivory with the exception of the seven available for sale through this special program. 

CCIF has already collaborated with South Jordan and Park City for similar projects. The South Jordan collaboration happened in April 2021 with nine homes offered for sale. “They had 11 or 12 interested in the nine units, so almost everybody was able to get in one,” Challburg said. 

Challburg presented the plan Jan. 7 and the council voted unanimously to spend $700,000 from CRA funds. “It’s a way to help employees try to buy a house with this money that has been in this fund for a while, money that developers in the area paid into the CRA (formerly known as Redevelopment Agency or RDA). The state is looking at everybody’s CRA funds or they could possibly be pulled,” Challburg said. 

“This is something I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s going to be an asset. There’s research that says your community is stronger when police and fire can live within the city. This is something we should feel really proud of,” said Councilmember Tasha Lowery. 

“My only wish is that there were more than seven,” Councilmember Fred Lowry said.λ