Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
A $22,000 donation from Upstate Federal Credit Union will allow for the completion of Anderson's first "tiny home," now under construction on E Street. The home should be occupied by the end of the year.
The LOT Project Founder Andy Gibson, who has been active in the neighborhood for a decade had the original vision for the home. An interveiw with Gibson includes discussion of the project and can be found here. The construction of the project was made possible the 29 members of Leadership Anderson Class 35.
The house is being built on a quarter-acre vacant lot purchased by Leadership Anderson class members using architectural plans commissioned by the class members and approved by the City of Anderson. The new construction is notable, since it is the first new construction in the “alphabet streets,” in decades. Anderson County officials confirmed there has been no new construction in the area since its Building & Codes department was founded in 1985. City officials also confirmed there has been no new construction in recent memory in the area.
Class members said the project is one of the most ambitious annual “class projects” Leadership Anderson has taken on since the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce established the leadership development program in 1984. Class members said they hoped tiny home would serve as a model to inspire a communitywide movement towards the adequate, affordable housing desperately needed for the revitalization without gentrification of former mill neighborhoods across Anderson County. A Memorandum of Understanding with The LOT Project to take over the home and find a resident is also part of the plan.
Leadership Anderson reached out to the local community to raise the approximately $75,000 worth of materials & labor needed to complete the project.