photo by: TTHO contributed

Preliminary plans show one of the small homes that will be built as part of the Harper Seven project by Tenants to Homeowners.

The City of Lawrence has awarded a local nonprofit a $200,000 grant to support a project that will build a cluster of seven affordable small homes in eastern Lawrence.

The $200,000 Affordable Housing Trust Fund grant will enable Tenants to Homeowners to purchase the lot for the project. The grant is in addition to $850,000 in grants from the trust that city leaders already approved earlier this year. Tenants to Homeowners said in a letter to the city that the purchase was an opportunity that had arisen outside of the application cycle.

Plans call for six 528-square-foot homes, all with carports and front porches, to be built on an .88-acre lot at 1718 Harper St., which is in the Brook Creek Neighborhood in eastern Lawrence. The property currently has one existing 500-square foot home, which will be rehabilitated as part of the project. All seven homes will be permanently affordable housing. The “Harper Seven” project will use the city’s affordable housing density bonus, which allows two homes to be built on one typically sized city lot as long as both are permanently affordable.

photo by: TTHO contributed

Preliminary plans show the layout of the Harper Seven project by Tenants to Homeowners.

The City Commission approved the grant as part of a meeting last month. Once complete, the homes will be for purchase for those making 80% or less of area median income, according to application materials.

The other five projects that received Affordable Housing Trust Fund grants were approved in January. Those grants include a $400,000 grant for another Tenants to Homeowners project at 105 Michigan St. and a $300,000 grant for the Housing Stabilization Collaborative, as the Journal-World previously reported.