Community Land Trusts (CLTs)

MODELS & BEST PRACTICES

Champlain Housing Trust (Burlington, VT)
www.champlainhousingtrust.org
Formed in October 2006, from the merger of two large Vermont community land trusts, the Burlington Community Land Trust and the Lake Champlain Housing Development Corporation, the Champlain Housing Trust is the largest community land trust in the country, with over 2,000 household members, housed in rental apartments, co-ops and shared-appreciation single-family homes and condominiums.

Chicago Community Land Trust (Chicago, IL)
http://egov.cityofchicago.org
The Chicago Community Land Trust (CCLT) was founded in 2006 to address the increasingly limited supply of funding for affordable housing. The goal is to preserve the long-term affordability of homes created through city programs for low- and moderate-income families. Through the CCLT, subsidies used to make homes affordable are preserved and leveraged over time to create a permanent pool of affordable homeownership opportunities. The program is primarily targeted to families earning less than 100 percent of the area median income.

City First Enterprises (Washington, DC)
www.cfenterprises.org
Founded in 1993, City First is launching a community land trust initiative that aims to create one of the largest community land trusts in the country. With $10 million in support from the District government, which will leverage $65 million in socially responsible investment funds supported by New Markets Tax Credits, the group plans to develop 1,000 units of community land trust housing. Ultimately, City First aims to develop a total of 10,000 permanently affordable housing units.

Concord Area Trust for Community Housing (Concord, NH)
www.catchhousing.org
CATCH completed its first housing development in 1989, shortly after its founding. Since then, the group has completed an additional 166 affordable housing units in 12 separate developments in the Concord area.

Cuyahoga Land Bank (Cleveland, OH)
www.cuyahogalandbank.org
The Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation (CCLRC) is the first of its kind in the state of Ohio. The Ohio General Assembly enacted legislation in April 2009 that allowed the formation of county land reutilization corporations—nonprofit entities that develop, manage, and rehabilitate abandoned or foreclosed properties. In an effort to mitigate the effects of the ongoing foreclosure crisis, CCLRC ensures that vacant properties are properly maintained and sold to qualifying inhabitants or developers. Land can even be used for community green space, urban agriculture, storm water management, or other ecological aims. CCLRC’s management helps curb land speculation and real estate flipping that can lead to housing crisis.

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (Roxbury, MA)
www.dsni.org
Founded in 1984, by 1988 DSNI had succeeded in getting the city to grant it eminent domain power so the group could acquire vacant land through a community land trust to implement its community revitalization plan. To date, 144 new homes and 2 community facilities have been built on land held by the trust.

Durham Community Land Trust (Durham, NC)
www.dclt.org
Located in Durham's West End, since its founding in 1987, the Durham Community Land Trust has built over 150 units of permanently affordable housing, as well as developing community facilities and two commercial projects.

Evergreen Land Trust (Deming, WA)
www. evergreenlandtrust.org
Founded in 1974, the Evergreen Land Trust Association is the oldest community land trust in the Pacific Northwest. The organization began as a grassroots effort to promote affordable housing, cooperatives, recycling, and other progressive initiatives related to land reform. ELT holds both urban and rural properties in the Puget Sound region, including cooperative houses and farms. The ELT Board of Directors is made up of two representatives from each ELT property and Board members representing the community at-large.

First Homes (Rochester, MN)
www.firsthomes.org
Founded in 1999, First Homes provides an innovative example where a large community anchor institution, Mayo Clinic, used a community land trust model to meet the employer's workforce housing objectives. Since 1999, $14 million has been raised and 650 new residences have been built. The total includes more than 420 new single-family homes (including nearly 50 community land trust properties) and more than 225 new below-market-rate rental units.

Genesee County Land Bank Authority (Flint, MI)
www.thelandbank.org
The Genesee County Land Bank has become a national leader in using land banking to guide community development. By avoiding the potential neglect or misuse that comes from selling land at auction, the County is able to acquire abandoned land through the foreclosure process and determine the best use of that land. The Land Bank assembles land for transfer to adjacent homeowners, develops long and short-term green spaces, and assembles land for new housing and commercial development. Overall, the Land Bank aims to restore the integrity of the community by removing dilapidated structures and redeveloping abandoned properties.

Irvine Community Land Trust
www.irvineclt.org
In 2005, the City of Irvine convened a Housing Task Force to help develop a strategy for the provision of affordable housing. It was particularly important to identify a strategy to preserve the affordability of these units over the long term. To address both production and preservation, the task force recommended the creation of the Irvine Community Land Trust (ICLT).

Kulshan Community Land Trust (Bellingham, WA)
www.kclt.org
Instead of developing its own affordable housing, Kulshan Community Land Trust founded in 1999 purchases property, in collaboration with the family, that meets specific requirements and is located within Whatcom County, Washington. This process allows the house to be taken off the speculative market and added to the many properties already within the land trust. To date, KCLT has provided affordable housing to more than 60 families.

Middle Keys Community Land Trust (Marathon, FL)
www.mkclt.org
Founded in 2000, Middle Keys Community Land Trust has grown to provide affordable single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments to more than 30 working families in Monroe County, Florida

Northern Communities Land Trust (Duluth, MN)
www.landtrustduluth.org
Founded in 1990, Northern Communities Land Trust has grown to provide affordable homes to 85 families. It also owns a “deconstruction” company that salvages building materials from construction sites for re-use in other projects.

*NEW*
Oakland Community Land Trust (Oakland, CA)
www.oakclt.org
Established through the joint efforts of Urban Strategies Council and community partners, the Oakland Community Land Trust (CLT) was the product of two years of planning and building community support in response to the mounting foreclosure crisis. Granted an award of more than $5 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding from the city, the Oakland CLT acquired its first of 130 properties in 2010, officially launching the NSP Homeownership Project.

OPAL Community Land Trust (Eastsound, WA)
www. opalclt.org
Founded in 1989, this community land trust today is responsible for housing 65 Orcas Island families, with more green and affordable homes in the works. On an island with 3,100 households, this means that OPAL is providing homes for two percent of the population

Sawmill Community Land Trust (Albuquerque, NM)
www.sawmillclt.org
Founded in 1997, the main thrust of the organization has been its 27 acre Arbolera de Vida (Living Orchard) project, which involves the conversion of an old lumber yard into a mixed community that will include affordable housing, community facilities, and commercial sites. Phase I of the project has been completed and provides affordable homes for 23 families. The final project will include 22 apartments for senior citizens and an additional 65 single-family homes.