Phase 2 Tenants Move into Powder Light
Available by Designated Workforce Water Rights
On February 16, numerous businesses with master leases moved their employees into Powder Light, the first development completed in Big Sky utilizing a dozen of the community's designated workforce water rights.

*BSCHT served as the leasing agent for 48 bedrooms in Powder Light that it made available to interested businesses registered with the Big Sky Resort Area District.

Several bedrooms are still available to lease. Please email BSCHT for more information.
*BSCHT secured its involvement in Powder Light with its access to designated workforce water rights enabled by the 1% increase in Resort Tax for Infrastructure. BSCHT made no financial contributions. Lone Mountain Land Company constructed and funded the project using private funding. Neither Resort Tax or other public funding sources contributed to the development.
Good Deeds Applications Paused
Program Preserved 7 Homes in 2022
BSCHT launched Good Deeds in 2022 and quickly spent the entirety of its funding to deed restrict seven existing homes for locals only. Each Good Deeds restriction transfers with ownership and permanently prohibits short-term renting.

At a cost of 10-16% of a property’s value, Good Deeds utilizes existing homes, allowing BSCHT to provide community housing faster and cheaper than building new inventory.

BSCHT continues to pause applications while it seeks additional funding.
The below "Spectrum of Housing Needs" graph from BSCHT's 2022 Housing Study represents both rental and ownership needs for residents at various income levels.

MARKET-RATE RENTALS: Big Sky's market-rate rental housing addresses the needs of households making at least 110% of the *Area Median Income. This is an annual income of $109,340 for a household of four. The biggest challenge in the rental market is not affordability but availability as there is a 0% long-term rental vacancy rate.

MARKET-RATE OWNERSHIP: The market-rate condos and homes for sale in Big Sky address the needs of households making at least 300% of the *Area Median Income. This is an annual income of $357,840 for a household of four. At this income level, a single-family home purchase is likely out of reach since median prices reached $2,450,000 in 2022.

FUTURE HOUSING NEEDS: By 2027, Big Sky needs to add 700-900 additional community homes. The pink portions highlighted below indicate what percentage of these new homes the community needs for rent versus ownership. Because of high land and building costs, the majority of these homes will require significant subsidies to remain affordable.
*The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determines the Area Median Income for every county in the U.S. on an annual basis. Area Median Income, known as AMI, is the midpoint in income for households in a region. If you line up each household from poorest to wealthiest, the middle is 100% AMI.

On February 24, Matt Zaremba and Allen Potts of The Zaremba Potts Group hosted the second annual Big Sky Winter Ball in support of Big Sky Community Housing Trust.

“[The Housing Trust] successfully used all their funding for Good Deeds… From our standpoint, it sounded like they were in the middle of a fundraising push, so we wanted to contribute to that,” Matt Zaremba said in an interview with Explore Big Sky
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
"'Rent Local' bill promotes coexistence for short-term rentals, workforce housing"

"In response to a housing shortage ripping across Montana, state legislators for the 2023 session have introduced dozens of bills to tackle the issue from a variety of angles. House Bill 430 sponsored by Rep. Jane Gillette, the “Rent Local” bill, is an innovative approach to reclaiming rental inventory for Montanans serving their communities.

Inspired by a program created by Big Sky Community Housing Trust in 2021, Rep. Gillette’s Rent Local bill provides communities with a valuable tool to incentivize property owners to rent long-term to local employees, as opposed to placing their property in the short-term rental market. The incentive to owners to “Rent Local” will come via property tax rebates, funded by an additional 0.25% lodging tax levied on the short-term rental properties within the community."
CONTACT US
PHONE
406.995.3696
Big Sky Community Housing Trust is a tax-exempt public charity (federal tax ID #84-3391892). All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.