Community Land Trusts FOR NYC
Community land trusts…
- Keep housing permanently affordable
- Protect Black, brown, and immigrant neighborhoods from the pressures of displacement
- Give communities ownership over land and housing
Community land trusts (CLTs) are on the rise in New York City, with 20 initiatives and counting across all five boroughs.
New Economy Project co-founded and convenes the NYC Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI, pronounced “nicely”), an alliance fostering the growth of CLTs to combat displacement and promote neighborhood-led development. We provide one-on-one organizing support, as well as legal and technical assistance, to grassroots groups seeking to form or expand CLTs. Through our New Economy Loan Fund, we directly invest in this powerful movement for change.
How does a CLT work?
A community land trust (CLT) is a community-led organization that owns and stewards land for the public good.
CLTs bring land into permanent, non-profit, community-controlled ownership, ensuring that land and any development on it serves the needs of the community.
How CLTs can support affordable housing…
A community land trust might own the land under a multifamily rental building or affordable housing cooperative. The CLT makes sure that those apartments can never be converted to unaffordable housing.
How CLTs can make home ownership permanently affordable…
A community land trust makes sure that homes built on top of land it owns can only be purchased and resold at a permanently affordable price.
How CLTs can support community businesses and more…
CLTs aren’t limited to housing—they can also protect community, cultural and green spaces. For instance, a CLT could hold the land under a commercial building, making sure that that space stays affordable for neighborhood small businesses that serve community needs.
Our interactive map showcases the growing network of CLTs across the city.
Our coalition building, policy advocacy, and education fuels this movement:
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COPA Is Back, a “Solidarity Stroll” with the Mamdani Administration, a New Coalition Takes on Big Tech Predators, and More!
In our latest newsletter: COPA is back! Catch up on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, our work launching a national coalition to fight Big Tech payday lenders, a “Solidarity Stroll” with Deputy Mayor Julie Su and other members of the Mamdani Administration, and much more.
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The Village View: Community Opportunity to Purchase Act – What it is, Where it Started, and it’s Current Momentum
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) is a bill designed to give qualified non-profits the opportunity to bid on a multi-family apartment building of four or more rental units when a landlord decides to sell. These qualified entities would have 20 days to submit a statement of interest, and then a bona fide offer…
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City Limits: As COPA Makes a Comeback, What Does it Mean for Land to be Communally Owned?
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) has risen from the ashes, and aims to give a boost to nonprofit organizations that promote community ownership—including community land trusts, which allow land to be directly owned by members.
How can communities get land?
Policies like COPA—the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act—are critical to advancing community ownership, by making sure that when buildings sell, CLTs and other mission-driven organizations have a first chance to buy. CLTs also need real financial resources to make these purchases—which is why we need robust city and state funding, along with low-cost financing from community development financial institutions (CDFIs), to advance permanently affordable housing. Establishing a public bank for New York City would further fuel this work, by channeling capital at scale to CLTs and other initiatives that strengthen and build wealth in local communities.
Learn more:
Contact us for a workshop or to request support: info@neweconomyproject.org
