Latest news with #ClaytonHomes
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former refugee becoming a homeowner with help from Blount County Habitat for Humanity
ALCOA, Tenn. (WATE) — A man in Alcoa is on his way to becoming a homeowner thanks to the Blount County Habitat for Humanity. Mathiang Gutnyin has worked at Clayton Homes for more than a decade, and while volunteering for Habitat through the company, he learned he could apply for a Habitat home. 'This is the only way I can afford to purchase a home for my family,' he explained. He is looking forward to having a home where his family can all live together. Habitat shared that he currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his oldest son while his wife and two younger children, who are US citizens, remain in Uganda until she can finish her visa paperwork to live in the United States. Remembering David Hodson: Knoxville veteran who led 150 Marines to Iraq and back dies at 76 Gutnyin is one of the 'Lost Boys of Sudan,' a group of boys displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War. He fled in 1987 to escape the war and was naturalized as an American citizen in 2008. 'I'm feeling great today because this is very important. I will soon have a home. I am in a program for Habitat for Humanity, and knowing that in a few months I will be a homeowner is exciting,' said Gutnyin. He is in a 10-month program through Habitat, where they are working to set him up for success once his home is complete. The program includes classes to prepare people for home ownership and volunteer work. Gutnyin told 6 News that volunteering is helping him prepare to fix things around his future home. 'It's amazing knowing that one of the things that we do here is you work on your home, and also at the same time, you work on another home for a different person. So knowing that you are also helping one of the homeowners that is going to come along, it's a great feeling,' said Gutnyin. More homes on the market could drive down prices in East Tennessee Around 300 Clayton employees volunteered over 1,200 hours for Habitat in the neighborhood where Gutnyin's home will be built. His home is also one of the houses sponsored by Clayton Homes. 'So for them to be part of my life journey in my process, to own a home and partner with me to sponsor my home is a great feeling, and I'm grateful for that,' said Gutnyin. 'A hard business' South Knoxville restaurant to close after 8 years 'To get the chance to volunteer and come out and really just that hands-on work, whether it's putting down some subfloor, putting up framing, or painting, and that's what gets really meaningful. And it starts to stick like, this is going to be somebody's house,' said Ted Rutland, social responsibility program manager for Clayton Homes. Habitat builds homes for families who would not otherwise be able to afford to become homeowners. In Blount County, it costs over $190,000 to build one Habitat house. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ribbon cut on new 264-home neighborhood in North Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A new neighborhood is coming to Knox County, bringing 264 single-family homes to the area. The Harvest Meadow neighborhood is located in northeast part of the county along Babelay Road and already has 12 homes completed. Local leaders and the companies behind the development celebrated the neighborhood on Thursday and how they are bringing more attainable housing to the market. Developer opens 96 affordable housing units in Knoxville, plans to open more this year 'Homeownership's the American dream. It's where wealth is created. So these homes, people who maybe not would have pulled the trigger now will be able to get into a home and start generating wealth,' said Clayton Homes CEO Kevin Clayton. With the new houses priced in the low-$300,000s, Clayton said they are nearly $100,000 less than the median listing price in Knoxville. Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs spoke about the need for more housing like this during Thursday's event. 'We're not talking about very poor people who can't afford a place to live,' Jacobs said. 'We're talking about middle class folks who are just priced out of the market, and that has some serious implications.' By partnering with Cook Bros. Homes, Clayton said this is the problem they are trying to fix. Donors boost city efforts to build more affordable housing in Knoxville 'You can produce a home at a lower cost, which means you can sell it at a lower cost and make it more attainable to people that are looking to buy homes,' said Cook Bros. Homes CEO John Cook. Cook said they are also building these houses to be as energy efficient as possible, building parts of the home in a factory. 'These homes are built to DOE's Zero Energy Ready Program, so they come from the factory as energy efficient as you can build a home in today's market,' he said. By doing this, they estimate new homeowners to save around $900 a year on electric utilities, and they say this kind of manufacturing may be the future of housing construction. ▶ See more top stories on 'The best automobiles, rocket ships, everything that's super high quality, energy efficient, is built indoors, and so it just makes sense,' said Clayton. 'The future does mean that components of the home will be built indoors where you can do it more efficiently and effectively.' While 12 homes have been built in the neighborhood so far, the additional homes are expected to be completed in phases throughout this year into the beginning of 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Clayton gifts $20K to Family Promise to support homeless families
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Family Promise of Greater Roanoke has received a $20,000 grant from Clayton Homes, boosting support for families in Roanoke City, County, and Salem in need of housing. Funds will aid families who are experiencing homelessness to find a home quickly to regain stability. The 'A Future Begins at Home' initiative began in 2019 and has served more than 30,000 families. Roanoke Planning staff working on zoning reform with focus on housing expansion 'The partnership between Family Promise and Greater Roanoke will allow us to serve more families. The goal is to prevent families from coming into shelter by providing short-term case management and services to help them overcome the largest obstacle to finding suitable housing,' says Amy M. Morgan, Executive Director. 'We are very excited to be chosen for this opportunity.' Clayton's financial support has donated over 18 homes to the Family Promise national network since 2019 to allow families to stay together and aid them in working to find permanent housing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
City: Jim Clayton withdraws donation for Knoxville science museum
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The $150 million donation and commitment for a new, privately-funded science museum at the location of the Knoxville Police Department's previous headquarters has been withdrawn by Clayton Homes founder Jim Clayton, the City of Knoxville released Friday morning. A city spokesperson shared with 6 News that the City of Knoxville had recently been informed that Clayton was withdrawing the donation and commitment to build the science and discovery museum at the former Safety Building property on Hill Avenue. South Knox County home damaged after late night fire 'After 6 years of meetings about this project, I am disappointed in Mr. Clayton's decision,' said Mayor Indya Kincannon. 'At the same time, I am excited about the opportunity to work with Councilwoman McKenzie and the community to reimagine development on this prime piece of property in our city.' The museum had been expected to be a state-of-the-art museum that would become a tourist attraction, with exhibits specializing in weather, robotics, jewelry and aviation. Previously, Clayton Homes' charitable organization, the Clayton Family Foundation, had been expected to fund the $100 million project and to provide a $50 million museum endowment. Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero announced the new museum and that the property where the Safety Building was located would be conveyed to the Clayton Foundation after it was vacated, in her April 2018 State of the City address. The spokesperson said Clayton informed the City that he will convey the land back to the City once the demolition and site grading work is complete. $43.7M contract for new Farragut elementary school approved by Board of Education After the property is returned, Knoxville's Urban Development team will be working with 6th District Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie and the community to develop future ideas for the site, which will compliment the ongoing investments at First Creek at Austin, Burlington, the Magnolia Corridor, the new Covenant Health Park, the Reconnecting Communities Grant projects, and more. In September 2018, the Knoxville City Council unanimously approved a purchasing agreement for the former Safety Building. The new museum was initially expected to open in in 2020, however, the new Public Safety Complex, which is what now houses the Knoxville Police Department as well as the Knoxville Fire Department, City Court operations and more, did not have a grand opening until October of 2023. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
