Sheridan has two workforce housing efforts moving at once on the edges of town, and one of them is openly looking for a development partner. Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Bighorns has finished 30 homes in its Weston Village subdivision, while the master developer behind Story House Village is shopping a multifamily block for workforce rentals (via Cowboy State Daily).
The Weston Village homes are priced from $231,500 to $295,000, and photo captions in the Cowboy State Daily story say all but two have sold. Buyers can earn up to 120% of area median income, which works out to $90,720 for one person or $129,600 for a family of four.
That higher income ceiling is new for Habitat here. The program used to top out at 80% of median income, but running the homes through a housing land trust let it reach more working households. Habitat keeps the land and leases it to the owners, who own the houses. A ground lease caps resale prices and requires every future buyer to income-qualify. Habitat's land trust page describes the resale cap as 2% simple interest a year, plus principal paid down and credit for approved improvements (Sheridan County Housing Land Trust).
The money came from a mix of sources. The City of Sheridan committed $1.5 million in federal ARPA funds for land and infrastructure, and Habitat raised $1.8 million to close the gap between construction cost and sale price. Back in 2022, local reporting said the city and county each put $1.5 million in ARPA money toward attainable housing through the land trust (Sheridan Media).
"That $1.8 million we raised will stay in this subdivision and impact the next 30 buyers," said Christine Dieterich, Habitat's executive director.
It wasn't a one-builder job, either. The land trust put out a request for proposals to builders in late 2024, and StoneMill Construction and two other companies were picked to build homes (Sheridan Media). Habitat's next project is in Buffalo.
Story House Village takes a different approach. Story House doesn't build homes itself; it prepares land and infrastructure and sells lots to builders. The original plan aimed for 20% attainable workforce housing, 60% market-rate and 20% higher-end homes, with the pricier homes helping offset the attainable ones.
Its workforce focus now is Block Six, where it wants a partner to develop multifamily rentals. Sean Patrick Higgins, Story House's founder and CEO, said the company is open to selling land below market or partnering, and has talked with Habitat. "For Sheridan to thrive, Sheridan needs to focus on those starter homes," he said.
According to Story House's site, phase one streets are finished, dry utilities are in, storm sewer is nearly done, and the site is ready for vertical construction (Story House Village). Block Six is listed as a 2.22-acre multifamily parcel, and a Century 21 BHJ Realty listing puts it at $1,065,000, marketed for workforce housing, townhomes, cottages or multifamily (Century 21 BHJ). The 59 single-family lots in Block Seven are all sold or under contract.
The village sits on the north side of Highway 336 east of I-90, and the city approved the phase one plat in 2024 with 83 residential lots.
Why it matters for Contractors
For local builders, Block Six is the headline. It's a shovel-ready multifamily parcel where the developer has said publicly it's open to a below-market land deal or partnership for workforce rentals. That's not a formal bid, so there's no deadline, but it's a real opening. Questions go to Story House at info@storyhouse-inc.com or to Century 21 BHJ Realty at 307-672-5838.
Weston Village also shows how these projects can spread work among several small builders instead of one big one. If Habitat expands its land trust model, as the city's reports suggest it wants to, more builder RFPs could follow. Keep your insurance and paperwork current so you're ready when they do.