AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) — Calvin and Chris LaMont, the stars of HGTV’s “Buy It or Build It” are the newest partners in a project to bring affordable housing to the Augusta area.
“It has to be affordable and it has to be quality, and that’s what we’re bringing,” Calvin LaMont said.
The LaMont brothers have been approved to build 10 new homes in the Laney Walker area beginning November of this year.
If you’ve never seen the show, the LaMonts buy old houses, renovate them and make them affordable to those who need homes.
“So, getting them here wasn’t hard. I literally picked up the phone and said ‘Hey Chris and Calvin, can you come to this conference and be our moderators?’ and they were excited to participate,” Deputy Director- Augusta Housing and Development Shauntia Lewis said.
Calvin and Chris say they hope the housing isn’t just affordable, but also quality.
“It’s not just about a regular home, right? We’re trying to come from across this country and provide a higher standard of affordable workforce housing and entry-level housing,” Chris LaMont said.
The LaMont’s are originally from Texas where their business began. Now, the goal is to provide affordable housing for families in the Augusta area.
“Entry-level affordable housing, providing affordable housing too, from market-level all the way down and the Realty One Group combined with us, it’s a home run,” Chris LaMont said.
The Deputy Director of Augusta’s Housing and Development department says her organization is focused on giving people safe places to live at prices that work for them.
“Because we should have an opportunity for everyone in the community to live in a safe environment and the lack of affordable housing– not housing that is considered affordable from my reach– but the housing that’s affordable for those people who make $31,000 dollars a year.”
Lewis says she hopes having the LaMont brothers involved will help get that program jumpstarted. And the LaMont brothers say it’s much more than just renovating homes to sell.
“It went from just the LaMont brothers flipping homes to– over the years we developed, no pun intended, to developers– and we started to be able to remodel homes and develop new. So, I’m a buy it brother, he’s a build it brother,” Chris LaMont said.
