A one-time motorcycle repair shop and Hells Angels outpost in Forest Knolls is being transformed into three units of affordable, eco-friendly housing. The Two Valley Land Trust purchased the property at 6956 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in March for $850,000 and plans to rehabilitate it for several residents to move in come next spring. 

The two-story house will be converted into three units: a studio, a one-bedroom apartment and a two-bedroom apartment. The land trust is using a combination of low-interest loans and grants to purchase and renovate the property, including $300,000 awarded by the county this week. 

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved two $150,000 grants for the project, one from the Affordable Housing Fund and the other from the Measure W housing fund. The county dedicated $99,000 from the Community Development Block Grant Program in June. 

“It’s so exciting to see the work that the community land trusts have done in West Marin—it’s really a model,” District Three Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters said on Tuesday. 

A financing plan with the home’s previous owner, Brett Hatt, Jr., helped the Two Valley Land Trust acquire the property, as did one-year bridge loans from six community donors.  

“It came on the market, and we jumped,” said Hal Russek, executive director of the land trust. “We had some initial funding that caved, and we had to make a last-minute plea to our supporters. Thankfully a lot of them came through at the 11th hour with the bridge loans to make the purchase.”

Rehabilitation estimates are roughly $425,000, according to Kit Krauss, chair of the land trust’s board.

According to Mr. Russek, the Marin Community Foundation will loan a sum equal to roughly two-thirds of the acquisition and rehabilitation cost to pay off the bridge loans and have the property ready for tenants by March. The trust will have 15 years to pay back the foundation. 

“We’re confident that through a combination of a low-interest loans and multiple grants, we’ll be able to reimburse the bridge loaners, pay off the owner-financed loan and fund the rehab,” Mr. Russek said. 

Tenants’ incomes will range from 30 to 70 percent of the county’s area median income, which is $122,000 for a one-person household in Marin and $175,000 for a family of four. According to the 2020 census, the median income of all households in Forest Knolls is $113,000.

The home was built in 1924 and renovated in 1950. Although its bones are sturdy, it has fallen into disrepair and requires interior and exterior renovations, from plumbing to flooring and insulation. The trust will install solar panels and a new heating and ventilation system, and it will convert all appliances to electric. A new septic system estimated at $75,000 will be covered by Tamalpais Pacific, which provides grants for nonprofits that support affordable housing in Marin.

Mr. Russek, who worked as the executive director of the Marconi Conference Center for six years before he started at the land trust in February, said he knows something about transforming derelict properties. 

“The rehab we’re focused on now is of the property, but we’re also pointing to a rehab of the reputation—not unlike what the Marconi nonprofit did and is doing after Synanon,” he said. 

Mr. Hatt inherited the property from his father, Brett Hatt, Sr., who ran Hatt’s Motorcycle Shop out of the home until his death in 2020. Brett Hatt, Sr., fondly called the “Knucklehead King” by bikers, repaired and restored hundreds of antique choppers and custom builds. He was an icon in bike building and considered by many to represent a culture that was once strong in the San Geronimo Valley. “Bring a box of parts and leave with a bike,” was his motto. 

Though Brett Hatt, Sr. was not a member of the Hells Angels, but he was friends with many in the club and worked with them for two decades to organize a toy drive for children whose fathers were incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. 

The trust, which operates 20 mobile homes in Forest Knolls and six senior residences in San Geronimo, achieved land trust status in January after 45 years of operating as the San Geronimo Affordable Housing Association. Its new name reflects its expanded mission to serve both Nicasio and San Geronimo Valleys. It is the second largest land trust in West Marin, behind the Bolinas Community Land Trust, which added 27 new units to its portfolio last month with the placement of trailers at the Tacherra ranch. 

Since becoming a land trust, the nonprofit has hired two new part-time staff members and a contract bookkeeper. With $25,000 in county funds for consultants, it hired Civic-Knit—a development consulting company founded by former District Four Supervisor Steve Kinsey and his son, Breeze Kinsey—to find viable properties for affordable housing. 

According to Mr. Krauss,
CivicKnit identified four sites in Nicasio and 16 in the valley that the trust is actively
exploring.

Over the last three decades, the San Geronimo Valley has seen a precipitous decline in school-aged children and new homes. The number of residents has increased by 15 percent since the 1980s, but the number of children under 5 years old has dropped by 67 percent. Meanwhile, the number of people over age 60 has more than quadrupled, accounting for roughly a quarter of the valley’s population.

The 1997 San Geronimo Valley Community Plan listed 1,556 units of built housing and a potential for 803 additional units across the valley’s villages. By 2015, only 210 additional units had been built.