New London – Tucked away on a quiet street off Ocean Avenue sits a snug, white-and-stone-accented home nearly ready for a new family to move in.

But the house at 46 Gorton St., with its tufts of new grass leading to a short set of porch stairs, is more than just a residence set to be handed over to a qualified applicant.

The 2,158-square-foot home is the latest purchased by the Southeastern Connecticut Community Land Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated to creating affordable home-ownership opportunities in the region.

To make that happen, the group searches out properties, purchases them and holds them in trust in anticipation of a family with a qualifying income – within 50%-80% of the area’s median income – moving in.

In the New London-Norwich area, the annual area median income is $112,300 for an average household, according to state data.

Executive Director Mirna Martinez said the group, formed in 2018, has so far closed on two other properties, including a farm in Salem and a residence on Prest Street in New London.

“The market’s so tight, we’ve found our relationships, knowing people who believe in our mission, are the best way to find the right properties,” she said. “What makes us different than other affordable housing groups is our involvement.”

She said applicants must be a member of the trust and work with a lender to ensure mortgage payments will be made.

A welcome note written by previous owner Rain Daugherty was affixed to a counter leading to the Gorton Street home’s kitchen.

In the missive, Daugherty, the land trust’s former executive director, writes of raising three children in a home she opened to anyone who needed a place to stay, from single parents and high school students to others “needing space to breath for a bit.”

“This house was big enough to share it with people we loved,” wrote Daugherty.

The overall cost for acquiring and renovating the four-bedroom Gorton Street residence was pegged at roughly $300,000 and partially paid for with $80,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding approved for use by the City Council and a $108,000 bridge loan offered through an equity trust group.

The Gorton Street property, purchased by the trust for $207,100, was appraised at $160,000 in 2018, city records show. Daugherty paid $218,000 for the home in 2005.

When reached by phone on Friday, Daugherty said soon after first moving to Gorton Street she added new windows to her home through a city lead-abatement program.

“So, there was a public investment in the home,” she said. “When I sold it to the trust, I sold it for what I originally paid, minus a real estate commission. The house was always part of the community and my priority was it continue that way in the future. My concern wasn’t making every dollar I could.”

In a Sept. 9 letter to the council voicing his support of releasing the ARPA money, Felix Reyes, director of economic Development and planning, said the trust’s mission of creating affordable home-ownership opportunities is one worth supporting.

“The shortage of affordable multiple-bedroom homes in New London is a pressing issue that requires creative and innovative solutions,” he wrote. “The renovation of 46 Gorton St. represents a strategic investment that will have a lasting positive effect on our city.”

Trust members note that while Connecticut’s home-ownership rate of 66% is slightly higher than the 64% U.S. average, “disparities by race are more severe in Connecticut.”

“New London’s owner-occupied housing rate is an abominable 38.4%,” trust officials said in a news release. “Particularly, we are seeing a shortage in real estate for three-, or more, bedroom houses.”

Ahead of welcoming new residents to a property, trust members conduct a series of renovations, which in the case of the 123-year-old Gorton Street home, will mean replacing decks and stairs; insulating the attic; and upgrading the kitchen, downstairs bathroom and electrical systems, as well as adding a fresh coat of paint to walls and the garage.

Approximately $62,100 is set aside for the improvements, which are expected to begin in a matter of weeks.

In exchange for getting an affordable, renovated home, the new buyers must agree the Gorton Street land will stay in a trust and the house, even if resold, will “remain affordable in perpetuity.”

Martinez said her group has had a few inquiries about the home from prospective buyers. She said her preference is to sell to a New London family, perhaps one that’s been searching for a new home for a while.

“We want to make sure it’s the right buyer for the right house,” she said. “You don’t want a single person moving into a big home. And we want to make sure they’re in the right income bracket: not too much to not qualify, but making enough to meet their house payments.”

j.penney@theday.com